One Small Hitch
by Jomoholic
Summary: On a flight home for a family wedding, childhood friends Klaus & Caroline agree to a fake wedding engagement to make Klaus' dying father happy. Things get out of hand when a series of events causes them to pretend to be a couple & start planning a phony wedding. When pretending starts to foster real feelings, the two must make some serious decisions
1. Chapter 1

**-On a flight home from Chicago for a family wedding, childhood friends Klaus and Caroline innocently agree to a fake wedding engagement to make Klaus' dying father happy. Things quickly get out of hand with their two boisterous families, and a series of events which causes them to pretend to be a couple and start planning a phony wedding. When the pretending begins to foster real feelings, the two must make some serious decisions - Split up and return to their lives in LA, or make a life as a couple back in Chicago...- Loosely based on the 2013 movie plot _'One Small Hitch'_ **

**AN: Saw this movie and just had to do a Klaroline version.**

 **Disclaimer - I own nothing.**

 **Prologue**

* * *

"I don't understand why it is so hard to confirm an appointment."

"I know.. I'm so sorry Mr Mikaelson I actually did confirm last night-"

"Details of your incompetence do not interest me." Klaus Mikaelson sighed clenching his jaw at the petite frame in front of him

Jessica had been his personal assistant for almost two years now. Half of which he had often made use of her services other than your typical office admin. What could he say?

From the sand blonde curls to the ocean blue eyes, the chiseled face, perfectly carved jaw line and well defined cheek bones. Niklaus Mikaelson was blessed with incredibly good genes, not to mention the charm and strong English accent.

Klaus was very upfront with his intentions when it came to women. They would both enter a mutually beneficial agreement where they could use each others bodies for many many sexual favors. No strings, no commitment and especially no relationship.

The minute he sensed the other member of said agreement was catching the feels however, he cut off all ties. Period.

Jessica was only one of the many little moths drawn to his burning flame. Whether they burnt out though did not bother him much.

But boy did he regret it now...

It had become pretty clear to Klaus that due to the casual sex between him and his PA had gotten her too comfortable for his liking. Her work was slacking and she was getting sloppy. He clearly wasn't paying her to sit around on her phone all day.

"Sorry.." She mumbled out a feeble excuse before readying her notepad. Her pale face now bright red as she tried to hide herself behind the thick chestnut curls

"Tell Alaric I am not going to approve that budget that he sent me for the Fall layout... I asked for clean, precise and accurate and he sent me dirty, pathetic and paunchy. R.S.V.P yes to Michael Kors' party, I want the driver to drop me off at 9:30 and pick me up at 9:45 sharp. Call Natalie and tell her for the 40th time **no** to dinner. Then call my brother Elijah and remind him that I will not be attending the conference tonight in Dalton but will be reachable via cell- oh wait no.. Tell him that I will not be available for the rest of the night. Then call Richard and tell him I saw the financials he sent for that feature on the project analysis and they are all deeply disheartening. Is it impossible to establish a good report? Am I reaching for stars here? Not really." Klaus eased back into his plush leather chair pinching the bridge of his nose

"Also, I need to see all the reports based on last weeks budget meeting with Cassandra Claire... I wonder if she's divorced yet.." He said smirking more to himself than his assistant who was furiously scribbling down trying to keep up with her boss's requests.

"Will that be all Klaus?" Jessica fluttered her eyelashes a bit too eagerly for his liking. A quickie would have been ideal now before he met with the clients from Russia but Jessica was getting in too deep... He could feel it.

"Coffee. That's all." He dismissed without so much as a glance toward her

Jessica nodded weakly and got up to leave. She did however to take extra long to get out never-minded by the fact that she not so subtly swayed her hips getting to the door.

"Fuck." He groaned once the door clicked closed. Another one off the roster and he was sad to see her go.. She really had been skilled when it came to using that pretty little mouth of hers

His phone started to go off bringing him out of his revere but he hesitated when he saw that it was indeed Jessica his PA calling.. Was she that desperate for his touch? A quick fuck maybe? Perhaps if she begged enough..

"What is it Jessica?"

"I have Stefan Salvatore on the line for you."

"Okay."

Klaus wondered idly what his best mate had been up to recently. To be calling all the way from Chicago did not come as a surprise to him anymore. Ever since Stefan tied the knot to his college sweetheart Lexi Branson and popped out a little mini me, the calls had been frequent. Klaus figured it was because he missed the good old single and carefree life that they once had. The only way he got his quick thrill was hearing about Klaus' latest conquests and wild nights it seemed.

"Stefan! Mate.."

"Klaus.."

"And judging by that tone I'm probably in the dog box again. What have I done this time?" Klaus sighed

"Does my mom's wedding ring any bells?" Stefan sounded highly annoyed but that was a given.

Stefan and Klaus had been best friends since high school. Klaus and his family had migrated to America when the family business had decided to expand internationally making the four Mikaelson siblings "the new kids" to a strange school.

No one anticipated the kindred friendship that started to develop between Klaus and Stefan. Where Stefan was more level-headed and down to earth, Klaus was more passionate and a spur of the moment kind of guy.

"You mean your mum's wedding next week Saturday?" He double checked his calendar just to make sure Jessica hadn't gotten her dates mixed up again

"See? I knew this would happen. That's why I called." Stefan sighed "Klaus the wedding is on Sunday which means you still have entire day to get your head out of your ass, your dick out of your PA and on a flight to Chicago. Clear?"

"Well I am now officially clear on two things mate... The actual date of your Mum's wedding and that I need a new PA" Klaus chuckled the thought of Jessica messing up yet again simpering away slowly

"Preferably a dude or an old lady." Stefan piqued up "I'm surprised you forgot. Caroline's leaving tomorrow. And with you both in Chicago I figured you'd fly together." Stefan suggested

"Your sister might have mentioned something to that effect yes." Klaus smirked

Stefan sighed loudly into the phone

"Well that sounded depressing" Klaus chuckled

"So Caroline's bringing this mystery guy home." Stefan groaned

"Must be serious then."

"I don't know.. I mean why all the secrecy? Something's up if you ask me."

"Or you're just reading too much into it as usual. Give the bloke a chance." Klaus chuckled

"And if it were Rebekah?" Stefan questioned

"Whatever mate. Look I gotta go, flights to book and what not. I'll see you soon." Klaus ended the call his mind already going into overdrive.

"Jessica get Genevieve on the line for me."

He needed a date for the wedding and fast.

* * *

"Caroline Salvatore, get that cute little ass of yours out here right now!"

"Quit stalling and show us the dress already!" She heard Bonnie yell out.

Caroline glared at the closed door separating her from her friends before turning to study herself and the horrid monstrosity that was her bridesmaid dress.

She bit her lip as she turned to survey the back in the full length mirror.

Yeah no the back was definitely the worst.

Caroline would never understand why her mother chose a dress with a thick satin sash on a chiffon dress. Heck she planned these things for a living, surely some of it had to rub off on mother dearest.

Did she take offense to not being asked to plan the wedding? Sure. Yeah, maybe just a little

Oh Christ the bow was **gigantic**

Well Liz was nothing if not over the top.

Sighing, she tuned again to look at herself from the front. Maybe it wouldn't look so bad if she sort of got rid of the sash and extra layers of completely unnecessary fabric draped across the chest to the one-shoulder sleeve.

She took a step back from the mirror and twirled slowly, watching as the fabric flowed with the movement. At least the color was okay'ish, she thought wryly. The mix of ruby red and maroon sort of made her hair look more blonde and her eyes more blue. If you ripped a few parts off and add like a couple of zero's to the price tag, she could totally call it vintage and pull it off.

She idly wondered if anyone would notice whether she made any changes to her dress while playing with the soft, mauve layers with her fingers.

It was **one** day, **just one** day for Mum and she would never have to wear it or see it again. Besides, her mom was getting married! This was her day and she wasn't going to ruin it.

"Care, this is ridiculous! Hurry up!" Katherine called. "Come on, I'm sure you look beautiful! It can't be that bad, how can it be that bad?" Bonnie joined in.

"Okay, fine! I'm coming." She took one last look at herself before opening the door to stand in front of the she-devils she called her friends. "So…" she asked twirling slowly, "what do you think?" Although she already knew what their answers would be...

Bonnie looked up from the magazine she was reading and grimaced. "Maybe it's always the bridesmaid, never the bride, because of the dresses."

Caroline sighed. "Is it really **that** bad?" she asked.

"Have fun at the prom," Katherine piped up.

She did not expect anything less. Katherine worked in the fashion industry, making her see this dress was probably torture. Bonnie on the other hand was into photography but it didn't mean she had to have a keen eye for fashion to know that this dress was just down right horrible... In every sense of the word.

"Well thanks," Caroline said with no small amount of sarcasm. Katherine just laughed from where she was lounging on the couch.

"It's your mom's wedding Care, don't be sad." Bonnie pouted playfully

"I'm not sad. I'm annoyed. I'm going through a highly emotional situation and evidently a fashion catastrophe and you both are sitting there, mocking me."

"Hey, what's Tyler wearing?" Bonnie asked, taking pity on her friend and changing the subject before Katherine could take a hit at her

Caroline shrugged as she walked back to her room. "I don't know what Tyler is wearing. It's not like he's walking me down the aisle." Bonnie and Katherine hummed in response.

"So when is the-"

And just as Bonnie was about to speak, the tune to the Wedding March began to play.

Caroline's head shot up from where she was packing the last of her things in her suitcase "What is that?!"

Exiting her room Caroline saw Katherine holding her phone while the wedding march tune continued to stream from the device. "Is that my phone? give it to me!"

Katherine laughed as Caroline lunged for the device. "Oh-ho, I'm sorry! What were you saying about walking down the aisle?" she retorted, jumping out of Caroline's reach behind the couch, waving the offending item.

"Kat!" Caroline dashed around the couch reaching for her phone, just as Katherine jumped over the back of the couch and plopped down onto the cushions.

Bonnie watched the scene in a fit of giggles as Katherine lean her head back holding up the phone, grinning cheekily. "At least all those years of gym and cheer have paid off," Caroline said attempting to glare at her friend, but unable stop the face splitting grin that took over

Katherine just laughed.

The sound of a horn honking repetitively brought the girls out of their bantered haze.

Caroline's smile quickly slipped from her face at the sound of the familiar horn. "Tyler's here! Shit!" she jumped up from the couch and ran into her room, unzipping her dress all the way over there

Meanwhile, Tyler Lockwood continued to honk the horn taking small breaks to make sure his hair stayed gelled up in it's flawless style. "Let's go Caroline! We don't have all day!" he yelled from his car.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "What is this guy's problem?" she muttered as she walked out to the balcony. "She'll be right down!" she yelled to Tyler.

Tyler surged himself out the open window and sat on the ledge of the door. "Come one Caroline, Chicago is waiting!"

Bonnie groaned. "Oh suck it Tyler."

As Katherine walked back inside she heard Bonnie ask "So what did you tell your family about Tyler?"

There was a long moment of silence before Caroline responded

"Nothing. I just told them I was bringing home a mystery man and that was it." Caroline dismissed as she shrugged on a woolen beanie

The two girls shared a look.

"So they don't know he's in a band?" Katherine asked.

Caroline walked out of her room as she shrugged on her jacket, oblivious to the awkward glances her friends shared.

"No, they don't even know that he is a **musician**."

Katherine was about to argue but with a quick look from Bonnie, she refrained

"Oh, well I'm sure they'll love his demo." Katherine said slyly, nudging Bonnie in the shoulder sending the two girls into giggles.

Caroline folded her arms across chest and frowned. "Okay, you know what…I thought that if we could spend a few days, **alone** with family," Caroline emphasized, "maybe my parents can meet the Tyler Lockwood that I know."

Much to Caroline's relief her she-devil friends stopped laughing at her expense.

"What if like me, his going to Chicago with me because he feels like this is it for us.. This could be our epic declaration of love on top of the Empire State Building moment." Caroline smiled shyly

"Have you been watching _Sleepless in Seattle_ again?" Katherine eyed her knowingly

"No.. Yes. But it's down to once a month." Caroline protested

Bonnie shook her head not even attempting to give Caroline the reality she most definitely needed but ultimately, didn't deserve.

"Listen to me, romantic comedies are like cellulite cures. Every one of them is a lie. Women watch them because they enjoy being lied to. In real life Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves do not fight over Diane Keaton." Katherine said

They did not look convinced but Caroline wasn't slightly bothered. She knew they didn't like Tyler because they hadn't even attempted to get to know him better. He's sweet, caring, a little possessive, sure, but Caroline just had a feeling that he just might be the one she could end up spending the rest of her life with.

He has to be.

Caroline was getting tired and a little embarrassed that all her friends getting engaged and married and starting families of their own, while she just had one failed relationship after the next.

She owed it all to her mom though. Elizabeth Mary Salvatore soon to be Forbes was now going onto husband number 4. She liked Bill though, he made Liz happy and well this was the longest relationship her mum has ever been in. For the sake of her and her brother Stefan's sanity, she really hoped this one stuck.

Just then the silence was broken with the obnoxious honking of a horn from the street. Bonnie grimaced glancing down at her watch. "Go on, it's almost three. You need to get to the airport." Reaching over and pulling her friend a hug, she continued, "We'll call you tomorrow. Now go before you miss your flight!"

* * *

Her place definitely looked different.

Klaus failed to notice the actual color of her living room walls and even that she had a countless bookshelves filled with books she probably doesn't even read. Maybe his reluctant unfamiliarity was because the only time he ever came over was at 2 in the mornings to work in a late night/early morning session.

When Klaus called earlier to ask her if she would accompany him to a wedding, she sounded hesitant and not exactly thrilled. When he mentioned that his family would be there however, Genevieve immediately accepted.

He was a little surprised to see that she had already been packed and ready to go by the time he got there which was a little weird seeing as he purposefully came over early so that they could work in a session before the flight.

Like how eager was she to go to Chicago?

Suddenly Genevieve leaned over and kissed Klaus. It seemed pretty heated. He wasn't exactly sure what brought it on but he was not going to complain. Klaus returned the kiss just as hard and she pushed him down onto the couch, climbing on top of him.

He then realized that she was wearing too many clothing and started to rip them off and fondle her.

"We're going to miss our flight." She gasped out breathlessly

"We won't."

Klaus definitely knew his way around a woman's body so getting her worked up and her mind away from the airport had been instantaneous the moment his lips found her neck. He was unquestionably a man who knew how to engage in foreplay and use it to his advantage

He idly wondered if he would get to the airport on time.. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be seeing his family soon, sure he missed his folks but they were sometimes a bit too overbearing. It was one of the reasons he moved out to New York in the first place. And not to mention he was supposed to meet Caroline and her mystery man at the airport, having booked the same flight as her via the request of her brother and his best friend, Stefan.

Genevieve shifted on the couch positioning herself directly over Klaus' throbbing manhood. He was ready to cave in, flight to Chicago be damned when his gaze landed on her bag with a magazine sticking out. His brow furrowed as the read the title of the magazine.

"What?" he mumbled, sure that he read the title wrong. Pushing Genevieve off of his chest, he reached out and grabbed the stack of magazines she had crammed in her satchel.

"What is this?" Klaus asked incredulously.

"What's what?" Genevieve lifted herself off his lap and looked over at the paper that had grabbed Klaus' attention. "Oh, that's just something to read on the plane."

" **Destination I Do, Get Married?** " Klaus flipped through the magazines unceremoniously as he read the titles. " **Wedding Star, The Bride Guide**?" Klaus tossed the offending articles on the coffee table. "Genevieve, it's not a thirty-six hour flight to Chicago."

"Well, we're going to a wedding." She responded nonchalantly

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Yeah. My best friend's **Mom's** wedding."

Genevieve simply shrugged. "Your parents are going to be there."

"And?"

" **And** , since we're taking things to the next level-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Klaus interjected as he looked at her suspiciously. "Wha-what exactly do you think this trip to Chicago is about?"

Klaus and Genevieve had met two months ago through a mutual friend's party. After many many glasses of bourbon and some drunken flirtation, they had been steadily sleeping together ever since. She was a nice girl, cute and witty and she was an ace to have on his roster, if he was being honest he was her favorite because he could call on her night and day and she would be game. But he knew he **was not** ready for marriage, for a committed relationship, and he did not like the direction this conversation was heading.

Genevieve sat back on her heels, smiling suggestively. "Come on, Klaus. I know you invited me to Chicago so that I could meet your parents. I mean it was so obvious"

Klaus just stared at her incredulously.

Yup.

He was not ready for marriage. Not commitment. Not tying the knot. Especially not to some airheaded red head like Genevieve.

He was so outta here

* * *

Caroline drummed her fingers along her leg as she stared out the window. She refused to look anywhere else besides out this stupid window.

After an obnoxious half hour which consisted of nothing but honking outside her apartment, Tyler had the audacity to claim that Caroline secretly didn't really want to attend her mothers wedding in any case because they were not that close.

She could've totally taken a cab but in all reality, going home and facing her friends and family with no one on her arm once again did not bode well with Caroline. So she sucked it up.

A long halt of silence passed as Tyler drove them to the airport.

Tyler glanced over at Caroline.

Her annoyed expression made him roll his eyes before mustering the most dramatic sigh he possibly could

"How many times do you want me to say I'm sorry?"

Caroline refrained from the snarky come back on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she let out a loud sigh and turned to observe the traffic once again.

"Once would be nice." She muttered lowly

Tyler shook his head at Caroline's behavior. She was being stubborn and dramatic even after he had already apologized.

An idea suddenly came to mind. This was definitely not the first time he and Caroline had gotten into an argument so he knew exactly what to do to make her cave in.

Flying off to Chicago for her mom's wedding on a sour note wasn't such a good idea

 _ **"Darling..."**_ Tyler started singing

 _ **"Please forgive me..."**_

He glanced over to see a rueful smile appear on her face although she tried to hide it well.

"Come on Care.. I said I was sorry baby" he whined "come on' lay one on me." He puckered up his lips towards her

"No.." She snickered "you're a jerk."

"Caroliiiiiine."

Caroline laughed and shoved his shoulder playfully. "No! You're driving!"

They arrived at the airport much to Tyler's annoyance because since he was the designated driver/partner/boyfriend coming home to the family.. It meant he was in charge of luggage.

To say Caroline Salvatore had over packed would be the understatement of the century.

Tyler started positioning their luggage and tying several bags together with a large sigh. Caroline idly wondered why it was taking him so long to do such a simple task. I mean, how hard was it to tie a knot?

As soon as the words "rabbit chases the...and then the hoop.." childhood knot-tying mantra began, Caroline knew that he forgot how to tie a knot.

At the pace Tyler was going, they were definitely going to miss their flight. The fact that they hit peak hour traffic on their way here wasn't exactly thrilling either.

Caroline hugged her coat closer to her body as the overwhelming urge of impatience took over.

"Maybe if you loop it arou-"

"Caroline! Please!" Tyler snapped.

Men and their never-ending ego's. Why did they always think that they could do everything and not admit to actually asking for help once in a while?

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of the wedding march, and only when Tyler stopped to turn to Caroline giving her a baffled look, had she realized that it was her phone that was ringing.

"Is that your cell phone?" Tyler looked at her incredulously

Caroline silently cursed one of the she-devils she happened to call 'friends' for changing her ring tone in the first place, then herself for not changing it back. "Oh, it's my brother." She said more to herself than Tyler, since he had already turned back to his rope.

Figures.. He had the attention span of a 5-year old sometimes.

"Hey Stefan."

"Hey sister-of-mine! What time are you coming in?"

His statement taking her to a never ending place of annoyance.

"Are you serious?" She sighed

Even though she was glad to be going home and seeing her family again, they were sometimes a little too much at times.

She was glad to hear her brother's voice, yes. Just the things he was saying was entirely irrelevant.

"God. Seriously?"

She remembered emailing her mom, calling Bill, her soon to be step father and even her sister-in-law Lexi, and now she guesses Stefan was part of the welcoming committee too.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. Mom asked me to triple check. You know how she is."

Unfortunately yes, she knew exactly how her mother was. As much as Caroline hated to admit, a huge part of her OCD mentality stemmed from her mother.

"You couldn't have just pretended to have spoken to me? Lexi knows what time I'm flying in, you could have asked her."

"Nah, Mom's too smart for me to one-up her like that without her finding out. So humor a guy and tell me what time you land." Stefan replied holding the phone between the side of his head and shoulder while he held his 7 month old son.

Caroline sighed. It was true; Stefan never could keep a secret from Elizabeth Salvatore soon to be Forbes. He was a momma's boy like that.

"Midnight. For what better be the last time, I land in Chicago at midnight."

 ** _"Caroline, do you have a knife or something?"_**

 ** _"No. Why would I bring a knife to the airport?"_** Stefan heard Caroline question

"Wait, your mystery man wants you to bring a knife to the airport? Call 911, he's a terrorist." Stefan teased

"Yeah. He's terrifying." Caroline deadpanned

Stefan hummed over the phone already shifting gears of where the conversation was heading. God-forbid he'd have to hear all about her mystery man.

"Have you see Klaus yet?"

"Nope, haven't seen him." She replied shaking her head. "Try him on his cell. I gotta go."

"Caroline wait wait wa-"

Hanging up she ignored Stefan's protests.

* * *

 _ **'Three hours delayed'**_

His flight being delayed had been a blessing in disguise, Klaus decided minutes later as he walked into a bar just outside the terminal. Now he could at least have a couple of hours to come up with the perfect excuse as to why he was date-less and maybe another excuse as to why his little sister was going to be one friend short on Facebook.

 ** _Note to self; Stay away from your sisters hot friends.. They are psycho and stalker'ish..._**

The beer went well with the occasional pretzels and salty nuts on the counter top. Thinking back to the day's earlier events made him internally wince. Jessica was already off the roster and now Genevieve was on her way out too. Two girls in a day was not good.

Genevieve was incredibly sweet and beautiful but she wanted more than what he was willing to give. Heck any of the girls deserved more than Klaus. He wouldn't lie and say this hadn't come as a shock because it did. One minute Genevieve was texting him at 1 am for their usual booty call hook ups and the next she was rambling on about meeting his parents and taking things to the next level.

The much awaited flight to Chicago was not looking as promising as before. Not only would he have to explain to his younger sister Rebekah why he was coming alone...again, but his brother Kol would surely give him grief.

His phone rang breaking him out his sprawling family saga of thoughts and his mood instantly lifted when he saw that it was Stefan.

"Stefan." He sighed much rather in relief than anything else.

"Yeah well I don't like how the Blackhawks are playing either." Stefan retorted to his friend's sullen sigh

Klaus couldn't help but chuckle at his mate's words. The hockey reference already taking him back to the good old days of hockey with his best mate and brothers in the backyard until someone eventually ended up in tears. Usually Kol. "I'm sorry man. It's been a rough day." At Stefan's snort, Klaus continued. "I'll tell you about it when I get to Chicago."

"I can't wait," came Stefan's amused reply. "Have you seen Caroline yet? I'm dying to see her mystery man."

Klaus turned to the entrance of the bar where he could make out the entrance of the terminal. No Caroline in sight and no mystery man either. "Nope. No sign of Caroline."

And before he turned back to his beer, a flash of white caught his eye. In walked a pretty little brunette with the shortest most flattering white cocktail dress he'd ever seen. Not your usual airport attire; not that he was complaining. His eyes were on her from the minute she walked through the door. She sat in a booth toward the back of the bar.

"But something did just pop up on the radar." Klaus smirked

Stefan's voice of protest brought him out of his perusal and drew his attention back to his cell.

"Klaus no! You have to get on this plane; it's my mom's wedding at **your** parents' house." Stefan emphasized.

"Stefan relax mate. My flight's been delayed." He replied nonchalantly

"How long?" Stefan groaned

"Three hours." And for the first time that day, boy was he glad for the three hour delay

" **Shit**... How hot is this chick?"

He ended the call in response and walked over to the woman

Klaus picked up his drink and walked over to her right away. He sat down uninvited across from her and called the waitress over to order a drink for her and another for himself.

"And a martini for the lady." He announced, his eyes locked onto hers never faltering

"Dirty.." She told the waitress and Klaus felt his eye twitch

If that wasn't a sign that he needed to get her on the roster, he didn't know what was.

* * *

Caroline huffed turning to Tyler who was still in a battle with the rope

It made sense that tying their luggage together would save them on time when they got to Chicago, but seeing her boyfriend's struggle was cutting into that time just the same.

They'd might as well leave the luggage as is and board the plane or else they'd be late.

"Maybe we should ju-"

 _ **"Tyler?"**_

Caroline watched Tyler look up in surprise at the man before them.

"Matt! Hey! What are you doing here?" Tyler paled

The man called Matt just shrugged. "Just dropping off April's mom."

Tyler nodded slowly. "By yourself?" His voice went high pitched as he ran his fingers through his dark hair.

 _ **"Is that Tyler?"**_

"Yeah, it's me alright." Tyler replied wearily.

"I thought that was you!" A petite woman edged closer now standing next to the blonde haired man called Matt.

Caroline looked dumbfounded. If these people were Tyler's friends, why had she never met them and more importantly, why was he acting so strange?

Deciding to ignore her boyfriends obvious discomfort and not to mention his failure to remember it was common courtesy to introduce your girlfriend

"Hi, I'm Caroline." She flashed them a warm smile

The woman looked scrutinizingly suspicious at Caroline, her smile seeming fake and unsure

"I'm April... And this is my husband, Matthew."

"So you're friends of Tyler? Its great to meet you."

Matthew looked extremely uncomfortable and somewhat nervous "Er you too. Babe we should probably go-"

April shook her head at her husband. "No, hold on a second." She said as she walked up closer toward Caroline. "Are you a friend of Hayley's?

"Who's Hayley?" Caroline asked frowning

Recognition dawned on April's face as she regarded Caroline like she was the worst person in the world.

"Tyler's wife."

* * *

 **AN: Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: I knew you were trouble**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **AN: Can I just say how thrilled and shocked at the positive feedback from you guys. Totes amazeballs**

* * *

 _ **"Tyler's wife"**_

The words echoed throughout her mind while she stood frozen to the ground.

Tyler was **married**.

The reality staring Caroline straight in the face.

Married as in _'for better for worse for richer for poor'_.. Did that make her a home wrecker? Was that why April radiated disgust when she looked at Caroline?

Was it normal that at this point she felt...nothing at all?

Not hurt, not sad, rejected or even heartbroken. The only thing that seemed to have took root in Caroline's mind was that she needed to get out of there as fast as she could.

Surely a normal human being would at least felt something.. So, what the hell was wrong with her?

She kept going, suitcases tugging along behind despite the faint echoes of Tyler calling her name. The mortified expression he had on his face the moment she realized his was married seemed to be burned into her mind.

He begged and pleaded with her to give him a chance to explain but she shook her head not even bothering to face him and lunged forward

She couldn't look at him.

Even if she wanted so badly to believe that April was lying, that maybe she was some jealous ex trying to make trouble and that Tyler was hers' and forever would be... that look, that look on his face told Caroline everything that she needed to know.

Now, as Caroline heard Tyler's yells, she wished he had stayed behind at the car, maybe even tagged along home with his friends to his **wife**. A numb feeling that had spread through her veins at April's words was now fading, and a white-hot anger was steadily taking its place.

"Caroline! Babe please, just wait a second!" Tyler called.

"Why, so you can come up with a fresh new lie?" Caroline retorted over her shoulder.

She heard Tyler sigh. "Alright, I deserved that. But please, can we just talk about this? Give me a chance to explain!"

The anger Caroline felt rising in her chest exploded. Whirling violently to face Tyler she hissed, "Talk? We cannot just talk about this! I trusted you, Tyler. I was taking you to meet my **family**!"

Tyler's eyes reflected remorse at her words. "Caroline please. Hayley and I are pretty much separated. It didn't matter."

Caroline's mouth dropped at his words. " **Pretty much** separated? Didn't matter?! Tyler, she's your **wife**. It matters!" She emphasized. Dejected, she continued, "Why couldn't you have just told me the truth?"

Tyler shrugged running a hand through his disheveled hair. "You never would've slept me with me if I'd told you.."

Since a young girl, Caroline was always taught to behave in a certain manner, conduct herself accordingly and as lady-like as could be..despite her better judgment though, she couldn't help but feel the boiling rage rise within her.

Furious, she turned and fisting his shirt in her left hand, she raised her right fist and swung it straight into Tyler's face.

Tyler's cry of shock and pain giving her a sliver of satisfaction. Gritting her teeth, she spat out, "Go fuck yourself Tyler." before spinning on her heel and rushing into the terminal, glancing back only once to see Tyler covering his eye and blood drip from his nose.

How proud wouldn't Stefan have been to see her now.. She knew that upper right-hand swing would come in handy some day.. Caroline thought as she walked into the ticketing counter to check her bags.

* * *

" **Three hours**?!"

"Well the heck am I suppose to do for three whole hours.." Caroline groaned

This was officially the worst day of her life. Caroline really couldn't find the right words that were _colorful_ enough to describe having find out that your boyfriend of a year, who you happened to be bringing home to your Mother's wedding was in fact **married**... And now it seemed the Gods' decided that it simply was not enough... No. The ultimate cherry on top of a gigantic break up cake had to be a three hour delayed flight to Chicago.

Three whole hours to lull over her break up with Tyler...

Three hours dreading in the fact that she would have to come up with an excuse as to why her 'mystery man' was a no show.

Three more hours, meant more time to overthink herself into an oblivion because let's face it this was Caroline Salvatore OCD extraordinaire.

Caroline was sure there is no way this day could possibly get any worse.

She walked through the terminal to her gate, wishing she was already in Chicago. There was nothing she wanted more right now than the comfort of her family. And since no one was really around to offer to beat Tyler up or even a hug, she opted to call her mom. Caroline could feel hot tears welling up in her eyes threatening to spill. She wasn't sad over Tyler, more disappointed than anything. The real reason behind her tears was that she felt truly and completely pathetic, an absolute joke.

Being with a guy for an entire year and not having an inkling of a clue that he was married, _really Caroline..._

Even though she hadn't told her family that much about Tyler, but they had to have known it was serious since she was bringing him home to meet them. The things she had told them had been enough to show how much she cared about Tyler.

Caroline had genuinely thought that Tyler was the One, and had told her mother as much. No, a phone call to her mom would not cut it. Her break up with Tyler was a conversation she wanted to have with Liz face-to-face.

Even if she wasn't in the mood for a phone conversation she had to let one of them know her flight was delayed

 **Caroline:**

 **(SATURDAY 00:30 AM)**

 _Flight's been delayed for three hours. Should be landing by 3AM_

A quick text to her sister-in-law should suffice. Lexi was the only one who wouldn't call her and talk her ear off as to why her flight was delayed.

 **Lexi:**

 **(SATURDAY 00:31)**

 _Three hours? Geez. I'm sure you and your mystery man could find something to do to occupy the time ;) :P_

Caroline read the text and grimaced. It was as if the saddened feelings about Tyler fell away and in it's place, a fresh brand of melancholic agony. Oh no, here came the waterworks again.

The next thing Caroline knew, she was leaning against a wall in a virtually empty hallway, sobbing onto her phone. She didn't know what was more pathetic; the fact that she was leaning against a wall for support or that she had become one of those girls—the ones who loose themselves after a breakup.

Before she knew it, Caroline was shoving the phone into her handbag and heading off in search of a restroom. God she probably looked like an absolute mess. Her make-up likely ruined and her eyes all red and puffy. She had just found one and was about to enter, when she stopped and saw a couple standing together just outside of the bathrooms. As she watched, she saw the guy wrap his arms around the girl's waist and lean in to kiss her temple, causing the girl to smile and lean into the kiss.

All the sorrow she attempted to bottle up and put away had just begin to bubble to the surface yet again and she rushed into the restroom, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't believe how emotional she had become. She'd experienced breakups before and she was no stranger to exes. But she had never been so torn up over a boyfriend before.

Was it because he was married and practically claimed that he only wanted to get into her pants?

She supposed that she was overly emotional because her mother was getting married in two days, leaving her the last unmarried female in her family. Just the thought of her mom's wedding brought a new rush of tears that quickly escalate into hiccuping sobs.

Being the last unmarried female in a Catholic family... Their relatives from Ohio were going to a field-day for sure.

"You alright in there?" a motherly voice asked, knocking lightly on the stall door.

Caroline looked up and tried to control her breathing. "Yes. I'm fine." She said before reaching for some tissue to blow her nose. Exiting the stall, she walked to the sinks where a middle aged woman was freshening up her makeup. Meeting her concerned gaze, Caroline halfheartedly said, "I'm okay. I just get a little emotional around my period."

The woman—whom Caroline assumed to be a flight attendant due to her outfit—cracked an amused smile. "Tell me about it. Try starting your cycle while working first class on a 14 hour flight to Tokyo."

Caroline nodded back, grateful the woman didn't press the issue further.

Turning to the sinks, she grimaced at her appearance. The remnants of her so called 'waterproof' mascara was now drenched in a dark black'ish trail down her pale cheeks. She quickly set about washing her face, not caring for etiquette anymore. Once she had finished, she stared at herself for a moment before she let out a sigh. She looked pathetic. Red face, swollen eyes.

Caroline's stare-off with herself was interrupted by the appearance of a makeup remover wipe entering her line of vision. The woman was looking sympathetically at her in the mirror. "Here. No sense running around an airport with coon eyes, now is there?" the woman asked kindly, referring to the dreaded dark circles under her eyes that the eyeliner had caused.

Caroline accepted the wipe gratefully and started wiping the makeup off her face. "Thank you."

She wiped the remnants of her makeup off before rummaging through her purse for her concealer. After searching in vain for several minutes, Caroline let out a frustrated groan as she slammed her purse on the counter.

 _The worst day of her life; really.. it was._

"Honey, why don't you take one of these." the flight attendant said, placing a small capsule on the counter next to Caroline's purse.

Caroline eyed the pill warily before asking, "What is it?"

"A flight attendant's best friend," the woman responded. Seeing Caroline's skeptical look, she continued, "In my line of work you have to smile no matter what your hormones are doing." With a friendly smile, the flight attendant left the restroom.

Caroline stared at the pill.

It could be anything and she **did not** want to end up strung out in a terminal and miss her mom's wedding. Liz would have an absolute fit if she found out her daughter took an unnamed drug from a stranger. In the end, Caroline threw caution into the wind and downed the pill with some tap water from the sink.

"What's the worse that could happen."

* * *

"Klaus, your hands are magic!" The brunette woman—Pamela—murmured.

Klaus smirked as he rubbed circles into her back. A few suggestive glances, some small talk, and flirting had led to Klaus giving Pamela a massage in a private sector of the bar.

"You keep that up and I'm going to have to follow you to Chicago" she said looking over her shoulder seductively.

Klaus's smirk grew, taking her boldness in stride. "Yeah? Well I'm thinking I can't wait that long."

 _And..I'm not exactly sure whether taking you home to a family wedding would make you catch the feely feels like Genevieve did. Nope. Not worth the risk._

Pamela slipped off the bar stool and turned towards Klaus, throwing her hands on his shoulders and lightly drumming her thumbs on his collarbone. "Well," she drawled, "there's a hotel five minutes from here."

Klaus raised an eyebrow in consent and reached for his bag.

"Klaus!"

Klaus looked around, surprised to hear his name.

His surprise tuned into confusion when he spotted his best friend's kid sister Caroline Salvatore standing at the entryway of the bar, waving enthusiastically.

Little Caroline Salvatore with blonde pigtails he loved to yank and pull as he constantly teased her to a never end. Well not so little anymore now, he thought, taking in her appearance.

While he and Caroline were amiable with each other, they never sought out the other's company, unless circumstances were dire enough to warrant the other's help. If Caroline calling him—in a public place no less—wasn't enough to merit suspicion, her exuberant waving was. Caroline had never liked garnering attention in public.

"Caroline" Klaus greeted her, slightly perturbed his exit with the lovely Pamela was delayed.

His annoyance waned quickly though, when he noticed that Caroline was acting much more uncharacteristic than he had originally thought. His eyes narrowed as he watched Caroline amble over with an enormous grin on her face. Caroline had never grinned at him like this before. The most he had been able to elicit from her were quirked lips. Caroline's smiles were rare; when she was amused her lips would twitch and threaten to break into a smile, but they rarely did. Her smiles were reserved for her close friends and they most certainly never occurred simply because of his presence. His confusion over Caroline's behavior amplified when she finally reached him and looked him up and down before throwing her arms around his neck.

The familiar scent of vanilla and lavender filled his nostrils. He often remembered this particular scent and it somehow always took him back to childhood memories of games and laughs in the backyard of the Mikaelson Manor

Kluas looked down at her in disbelief when he heard her giggle. Caroline giggled? He glanced over at Pamela, only to see her looking at Caroline with no small amount of annoyance.

"Um, Caroline?" Klaus asked. Waving, giggling, and now hugging? Caroline's behavior was starting to worry him.

Caroline finally released Klaus and turned excitedly to Pamela, smiling animatedly before turning her affections to Pamela, wrapping her in a hug similar to the one she had given Klaus.

Pamela gaped at Caroline's actions and glared at Klaus over Caroline's shoulder, all the while trying to entangle herself from Caroline's grasp. Klaus might have laughed at the situation, had he not been so concerned over Caroline's peculiar behavior.

"Caroline, this is Pamela, Pamela this is Caroline." Klaus gestured feebly between the two ladies. "Caroline is my best friend's kid sister. She's going to the same wedding in Chicago"

Pamela frowned. _Kid is right._ If the girl wasn't mental, she was drunk or high as hell.

Disgusting. She caught Klaus's eyes again and raised a brow. Her glare prompted him to action, and he gently loosened Caroline's arms from Pamela. "Okay, Care, can I see you for a minute?"

Caroline's lips twisted into a pout as Klaus led her to an empty table. "Can you just sit there for a second?" Caroline continued to pout, but sat obediently on one of the stools. Relieved, Klaus turned and walked back toward Pamela, who was waiting with an impatient frown.

Klaus leaned against the bar, scratching his head sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what's gotten in to her." Klaus chuckled. "I think someone slipped her ecstasy."

Pamela smirked and drew closer to Klaus, looking up at him through hooded lashes. "I could do with some ecstasy. The good, old-fashioned kind." She purred

Klaus inwardly sighed. As tempted as he was to continue his romp with Pamela, he knew he couldn't leave Caroline alone in a bar, as high as she was on god-knows what. Instead of answering, he looked over Pamela's shoulder at Caroline, who was shamelessly flirting with a guy Klaus could only describe as a gangster. Bald, huge arms, tattoos galore.

Pamela followed his troubled gaze and turned back to Klaus with a scoff. "Oh come on Klaus. She'll be fine."

Again, Klaus didn't answer and looked pointedly at Pamela. Pamela huffed and grabbed her purse, taking the hint. She spun away on her heel, looking more than a little insulted.

Turned down for someone's kid sister... _**Pssh**_

Klaus watched her go, somewhat disappointed.

A girl like Pamela had the full package—chest, ass, and legs. He was only human, who wouldn't be disappointed to watch that walk away? She would have made an exceptional addition to the roster.

But Caroline was Stefan's only sister, who would kill him if anything happened to Caroline. He knew this because had it been Klaus' little sister Rebekah, he would expect the same courtesy from Stefan.

And although he would never admit it, even under the circumstance of impending death, Klaus cared for Caroline the same way he cared for his sister Rebekah. If anything he felt responsible for her, with her family two thousand miles away. When Caroline had first moved to LA, both Liz and Stefan had made him promise to look out for her in their absence.

Responsibility was not an act he took lightly. As much as he wanted to cave to his carnal urges, he knew that right now, Caroline was more important than getting laid by a stranger he had met at the airport. With a sigh, Klaus turned and started when he saw Caroline touching the bald man's head, who was eyeing her chest appreciatively.

A surge of protectiveness rose in his chest and he strode over to where Caroline was giggling, completely oblivious to the man looking down her shirt. Klaus glared pointedly at the man and grabbed Caroline's arm, leading her away to a new table on the other side of the bar.

Caroline turned in his grasp and waved at the man, who was now ogling her ass. Klaus' grip tightened and quickened his pace, roughly depositing Caroline at the table. Caroline yelped when she hit the seat and glared sullenly at Klaus.

He rolled his eyes and strode over to the bar to get a pitcher of water from the bartender. When he returned, Caroline had folded her arms on the table and was looking at the polished wood blankly. He sat down next to Caroline and poured her a glass of water.

"Drink up, sweetheart. Whatever the hell it was you took needs to flush out of your system." Klaus grinned wryly when Caroline's owlish gaze rose from the table to meet his. "Can't have her majesty buzzed on a plane now, can we?"

Caroline's brow furrowed at the nickname, but she obediently reached for her glass and began to drink. Klaus watched as she drained the glass before proceeding to refill it. Caroline lifted the glass to her lips but stared at the water instead of drinking it. Klaus leaned back in his seat, folded his arms across his chest, and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry!"

Klaus' eyes shot open at Caroline's outburst and looked at her in surprise. Caroline had placed the glass back on the table and was looking earnestly at him with tears filling her blue orbs.

"I'm sorry I screwed everything up, I'm sorry you didn't get laid."

Klaus stared. Caroline was upset because he didn't get laid? She had rarely ever shown any interest in his conquests, but when she had, it was always dripped with disdain.

"I'm sorry I wasn't perfect, I'm sorry I cared so much, I'm sorry for loving you, for thinking you felt the same, I'm sorry for wanting something that wasn't mine..."

Klaus's mouth dropped at Caroline's words.

 _What the actual fuck?_

At first he thought that she was unreasonably upset over his missed opportunity. But hearing Caroline ramble on with apologies, he realized she was talking about someone else. For the first time, Klaus finally noticed that Caroline was alone.

Where was her mystery man?

He pondered this new revelation for a minute before it clicked: Caroline was speaking of her mystery man. Whatever had happened between them between now and this morning when he spoke with Stefan had apparently been enough to merit a breakup. And a nasty one at that, judging by Caroline's rambling and tears. Finally, Klaus snapped out of his trance and interrupted her babbling.

"Caroline! It's okay, I forgive you." Klaus gently shook Caroline's arm to get her attention. "I forgive you. Now, why don't you try to think of something happy, okay? Like, you're going to your mom's wedding." Klaus was aching to know the details of what had caused the always usually composed Caroline to become such an emotional wreck, but he decided that if she wanted him to know, she would tell him in her own time.

Caroline stopped talking, but instead of cheering up—as he had hoped—she began to sulk. "Her fourth wedding."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "So? You like Bill. He's been a part of your life before you were born. And he was your dad's best friend. He taught you self-defense and how to drive stick-shift. He became a father figure to you when your dad died even when your Mom married those other two douche bags. You've never had a problem with him before. Why now?"

Caroline choked back a sob and whispered, "He isn't my real dad."

Klaus sighed and moved over to the chair next to her's. He had never been one to offer her comfort before, but if there was anything he understood, it was divorce. His eldest brother Elijah had divorced his wife Elena. The problem being that Elijah was the only one of the siblings that was married at the time and when he finally called it quits, his parents were sullen with the idea that they were going to grow old and die before any of their children gave them grand kids.

His sister Rebekah was too career-orientated to settle down and have kids, being a model and all he doubted her contact stipulated any maternity leave benefits. Kol and Klaus were both too man-whorish to even comprehend the thought. Which left Elijah, who was too invested in the company that he just gave up on the concept of love entirely.

Caroline continued to gasp out sobs, so Klaus began to rub circles on her back. Tenderness was uncharacteristic of Klaus, so he responded gruffly, "Whatever. Things didn't go exactly as I planned today, but you don't see me crying."

Caroline stiffened under his touch. "Forget it. You wouldn't understand."

"I hate it when girls say that. What does that even mean?"

"It means you don't understand the pressure of being the last unattached female in your entire family." Caroline said bitterly. "A Catholic family!" She added sullenly

"I wouldn't understand the pressure?" Klaus huffed. "My parents are like Jewish parakeets. 'When are you getting married, when are you getting married, when are you getting married.'" He imitated his mother and her constant pleas to get Klaus down the aisle with the first woman she could get her hands on.

Caroline groaned and placed her head on the table. "I should have known he was married!"

Ah, Klaus thought. Now we're getting somewhere. "Married, huh? Your mystery man was married?"

Caroline nodded her head and proceeded to relay the events that had led up to meeting him in the bar.

Klaus clenched his jaw as he listened to Caroline's story, an anger brewing for a man he had never met.

Klaus felt like seeking this Tyler out and pounding the living daylights out of him for Caroline like he knew he would for his sister. He also felt something akin to a possessiveness he had never felt before simmer in his gut. He couldn't explain the cause of such a feeling, so he shoved it as far from his mind as he could and focused instead on things he knew and could control.

"I feel like such a loser." Caroline finished her tale and began to repeatedly whack her head against the table.

"No Car-." Klaus sighed when he noticed Clarke's actions and shook her shoulder. "Caroline. You're not a loser. If anyone is a loser it's **that lying, scumbag, son of a bitch**."

"I know, I know."

"Then why are you still crying?" Klaus questioned, genuinely confused. He'd watched Caroline date multiple men over the years, but he'd never seen her so torn-up over a breakup before. The Caroline he knew would never waste an extra breath over an ex, especially one that was as big of a douche-bag as Tyler. Even the name _Tyler_ sounded like a fuck boy name.

Caroline chuckled harshly and then looked up at Klaus with red-rimmed eyes. "But what if that lying, scumbag, son of a bitch was the best that I could do?"

Klaus almost laughed out loud at that. A lying, scumbag, son of a bitch, the best that Caroline Salvatore could do?

She was valedictorian in high school, head cheerleader, head girl of almost all social societies and clubs at school, graduated college at the top of her class, was making a name for herself in the events industry, her mother was a world-renowned surgeon, her step-father owned one of the largest security agencies in the States.

There was no best that Caroline Salvatore could do; she was the best. If their parents weren't such good friends, Klaus knew he would have never run in her social circle. For a time, he had even resented her and Stefan for it. But there could only be so much animosity between two families who were best friends. Eventually he got over it, and made a best friend in the process.

"Look at the bright side Caroline. You're single now. Guys love that." Klaus smirked

Caroline groaned and rolled her eyes at his words. Klaus ignored Caroline's reaction. "And you're pretty, right? You're funny, you smell good." He added

Caroline smiled weakly at that. Klaus grinned and plowed on. "You're smart. I mean for a girl." Caroline shoved him on his shoulder and he laughed. Caroline seemed to be returning to normalcy.

"You're compassionate, and stubborn, and you put up with Kol and me." Klaus grinned at his lame joke and glanced to Caroline to see if she had done the same. Instead, he saw her head lying on the table and her eyes closed. He nudged her elbow several times before leaning back in his chair with a huff. "And you're completely passed out. **Great**."

Klaus started at the shrill ring of his phone. He reached for his phone and furrowed his brow when he saw the caller on the screen. _Mom_.

He stared at the screen for a brief moment in confusion before chuckling and shaking his head. He had forgotten to tell his mom that his flight would be delayed. He almost kicked himself for his absentmindedness. Esther Mikaelson was protective of her children, to say the least. Growing up, Klaus and the rest of his siblings had often complained of her being a helicopter parent. Not that Klaus could blame her; she did raise four children single-handedly for several years. And while her protective manner had lessened over the years, Esther still demanded updates and regular phone calls. Sighing in defeat, Klaus accepted the call.

"Hello Mother."

"Oh thank God! He's alive!"

Well, this was new. "Mother, why would you think I was dead?" Klaus asked incredulously.

"Because you were supposed to be here by now," Esther stated the obvious in the way only a mother could.

Klaus sighed. "My flight got delayed."

"And what, you didn't think to call?"

"Yeah well," Klaus glanced over at Caroline still slumped over the table. "I've been busy."

He heard his mother scoff. The drone of several buttons being pushed came over the line. "That's how long it would have taken."

"Mother, what's wrong?" Klaus frowned. Esther was sounding more than just worried over a puney delayed flight.

"Nothing. I-I'm just upset because we thought you were coming tonight."

"You're also a terrible liar." Klaus deadpanned.

"I'm not lying. Everything's _fine_."

Fine. Fine?! Fine is the universal word for problem. No one ever said they were 'fine' and truly was. "Everything's fine? Mum, now you're starting to freak me out. Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to ask Father?"

Whatever Klaus expected his mom to say, he wasn't expecting her to say nothing. The silence on the line was deafening. "Mom?"

" ** _Are you talking to Niklaus?_** " His dad's voice came from the background. "Yes. I'm talking to him now. Pick up the other phone." Klaus couldn't make out Mikael's next words, but he heard his mom's distraught reply vividly. "You said not to tell him on the phone!"

Klaus froze. "Tell me what?" He tried to swallow the panic he felt raising in his chest, but it had been years since he had last heard his mom so anxious. "Mother, Father. Tell me what?"

Esther choked back a sob. "I'm hanging up." The click of the phone punctuated her words.

"Father" Klaus whispered.

"Yeah, I'm still here. But according to the doctors', not for much longer."

Klaus' breath caught in his chest.

"What?" He choked out.

"It's the **big C** Nik, and no magic pill or shot can change that."

"Dad—" Klaus tried to speak, but Mikael cut him off.

"It's terminal, okay? Stage 4. There's not much the doctors can do."

Klaus ran a hand over his face.

His dad had cancer.

Terminal cancer.

His dad was dying of cancer.

Mikael was the only man Klaus really looked up too. This was the man who taught Klaus how to play hockey, who encouraged Elijah to expand the business overseas, had supported Rebekah's dreams to become a super model and even accepted the fact that Kol was just not into running the family business with Elijah and Klaus.. He came to every hockey game, every martial arts match. The man who taught Klaus to tie a tie, encouraged him and his love of art, tutored him through calculus. The only man Klaus could truly look up to and he was dying of cancer.

Klaus cleared his through harshly. "Father.. Stop talking like that."

"Talking like what? This is how I always talk."

Klaus bowed his head at his father's words. It was true. His father was blunt to a fault, truthful, and dowsed with raw humor.

"To tell you the truth, I only have one real regret." Mikael didn't wait to hear Klaus' reply. " **It would have been nice to meet the woman who would one day become your wife**."

Klaus swallowed thickly. "Oh, dad."

He stared down at the table, ashamed. Of course his dad would want to be around for his wedding. Rebekah's too if her boyfriend ever popped the question. But at least Rebekah had the prospect, and a good one at that. Elijah and Kol.. well he wasn't exactly sure where they were at in their respective love lives.

But Klaus, Klaus had no one.

It had been years since he was serious about anyone. He was content with his flings, the roster he kept going kept him going. He hadn't wanted to become permanently attached to someone for the rest of his life yet.

For all his relationship flaws, marriage was the one thing he took seriously. He wasn't going to be like his older brother and leave his wife just because he loved his job too much. No, to Klaus, marriage was forever. And he just wasn't ready for that yet, wasn't sure if he ever would be. As determined as he was to not be like Elijah, he was terrified that that's who he would be. After all, they shared the same blood.

But now, his greatest fear was standing between him and giving Mikael his dying wish. Klaus lifted his head and tried to think of a response.

A flash of gold out of the corner of his eye made him pause, and he turned toward the source.

Caroline. Still passed out on the table, but she had shifted so she was now facing him. Her blonde waves splayed on the table, with several pieces sticking to the corner of her mouth. Klaus reached over to move the strands off her cheek, but he paused in the middle of his action. Looking from his phone to the sleeping girl next to him, an idea began to form in his mind.

"Father?"

Mikael hummed in response.

Klaus inhaled. "What if I told you I already have?"

* * *

 **AN: So yeah we have a good Mikael in this story for once.**

 **You guys are so awesome. Don't forget to review**

 **xx**


	3. Our Crazy Families

**Chapter Three: Our crazy families**

* * *

Caroline felt her body ease into a plush leather seat. Her neck was stiff, her head felt heavy and her ears so filled with pressure, it almost hurt. Her cheek felt wet and there was a slight breeze blowing on her face which made her cold. She blinked a few times to gather her bearings before doing a full peripheral scan of her surroundings.

The first thing Caroline seemed to deduce was the cause to the dampness on her cheek - Disgusted - she'd find that it had been because she was laying face first in a pile of her own drool.

 _Gross_

Trying to lift herself into an upward position to try and make sense of her current whereabouts, Caroline came face to face with a child. Peering over the edge of his seat – the little boy seemed quite fascinated with her appearance that Caroline nearly felt embarrassed – knowing he had seen her with drool on her chin. "Bobby get back into your seat and buckle up." his mother scolded and he flashed her a toothy grin before disappearing from her view. Not long after, had she made out a little whisper from the boy telling his mother about a weird girl that drools and snores in her sleep.

Turbulence jarred her from her daze and she was overcome with the feeling of discomfort that came with unfamiliar surroundings. She blinked her eyes a couple of times in an effort to rid her of the cobwebs in her mind. As her head returned her to the realities of her surroundings, she blinked her eyes some more trying to sharpen her vision. After another long look, Caroline waited for what she saw to click everything into place.

Nothing clicked.

From between the bar and passing out she couldn't exactly deduce how she ended up here. How the heck did she make it to the plane?

 _Oh god._

Well its safe to say she knows exactly why she felt all droopy-like and weird. Caroline remembers the pity on the woman's face when she gave her some unknown drug – oh if her mother saw her now...

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

Caroline nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt someone shake from laughter from right next to her.

"Klaus?" Caroline whirled in shock more than anything, trying to decipher why he was sitting next to her and why the leggy brunette from the bar hadn't been with him. She remembered how that girl had practically wrapped herself around his every entire anatomy.

"You look like you could use a drink." He mused and Caroline watched as he pulled on lock of hair that had been stuck to the side of her earlier – drool-coated face. The fact that Caroline probably looked like hell at that point, did not bother her in the slightest, it was just Klaus after all. A woman in a uniform quite similar to the one from the bathroom incident earlier, wheeled a trolley next to them. Caroline craved a soda or something sweet to wash out the horrid taste of sleeping with her mouth open.

Klaus took a scotch, neat. "Thank you love," he said, flashing the woman a dimpled smirk making her blush. Caroline could not understand how his cheesy moves actually worked on these poor women. If her eyes could roll any further, they'd be at the back of her head. She continued to watch - with an annoyed expression as Klaus ogled the flight attendants ass while she wheeled away further down the aisle. He handed Caroline a bottle of water

"Seriously.. Can you be any more of a man-whore.." She muttered lowly

"Man-whore?" He laughed "Say what you will sweetheart but I totally do it for you."

"In your dreams Klaus."

"No sweetheart, in yours. You've been moaning my name in your sleep ever since you passed out in the bar." He smirked. Caroline refused to dignify his remark with a comment and decided to focus on the one thing she couldn't quite wrap her head around.

"How did I get here?"

"I put you here."

 _Oh._

"Ah ah ah!" Klaus swotted her hand away when she tried to grab his glass instead of her bottled water. "You need to flush out whatever drug it is that you took earlier sweetheart."

Staring at him with a scowl, she downed the bottled water in a matter of three large gulps.

"Never pegged you for the ecstasy type of girl Caroline." Klaus said

"That's because I'm not." She retorted "Can we just cool it with the snarky comments? I just found out I had been a home-wrecker for a span of months and its bad enough that I'm stuck on a plane with you for the next couple of hours. I totally wanted the window seat by the way."

And suddenly Klaus was brought back to the initial reason they'd been on a plane to Chicago. Caroline's mother's wedding at his parents house.

His parents

His dad.

Klaus had been completely engrossed in his thoughts and the conversation he had earlier with Mikael that he failed to hear Caroline calling him

"Klaus!"

He finally turned to look at her – his facial expression rather blank.

"I said your name **three** times." Caroline scoffed

"Look Caroline I'm sorry I had to carry you onto the plane, sorry that you didn't get a window seat and I'm sorry you're stuck next to me on this plane for the next few hours. I wanted to fly without my best friend's kid-sister slobbering all over me for three hours so I guess we don't always get what we want."

"Wow... Okay. Someone's grumpy."

"Really! I wonder why that could be..." Klaus continued his little rant and Caroline couldn't help but sit back in awe as to how suddenly his mood had changed. It's like he was bipolar or something

""-and maybe it's because I had to carry you all the way to the gate terminal and onto the plane or-"

"Klaus..."

"maybe it's because after I lost two woman from my roster and was so close to getting another when..."

"Klaus.."

"Maybe it's because I just found out that my father is dying of cancer."

That certainly made Caroline pause. "What?" she gasped staring at him – afraid of having heard him wrong.

Klaus sighed running a hand through his hair "They called while you were passed out. Its terminal Caroline... Stage 4." He replied "He's got six months."

Caroline sat straight up and stared at Klaus in sheer disbelief. She felt like such a bitch for going off at him earlier. Had she known... "Oh, Klaus." She placed her hand on his arm in hopes to comfort him, something she was sure he needed now. She watched him blink rapidly and knew he battled at keeping his tears at bay.

Caroline found herself at a loss of what to do. Klaus was surely crying... In his own unique, Klaus-like way but this was so out of her level of expertise not to mention her comfort-zone. As taken aback as she was, she couldn't help but think back to the **only** time she had ever seen Klaus cry. It was silly and totally irrelevant but it was literally the first thing that jumped into her mind. Her brother Stefan, along with Klaus and his brothers were in the backyard playing what was initially a friendly-game of hockey. Things surely took a turn for the worst when Klaus took a nasty knock to the chest and fell down onto the ground breathlessly. She was sure she saw him shed a few tears from her bedroom window upstairs. That was ages ago and it certainly did not help her current situation in the slightest.

"Klaus..." She watched as he dashed the tears away angrily, refusing to look at her. "Do the others know?"

He shook his head. Elijah would have told Klaus, had he known. "I think my parents wanted to tell everyone together. Seems your mother's wedding was the perfect way to get us all together."

Caroline nodded in understanding. That was probably for the best. In that way, Klaus and his siblings would be able to deal with the grief and shock together, rather than alone in different country's. Caroline knew how much the Mikaelson siblings idolized their father, this would surely destroy them. Her mind went to Rebekah - Klaus' younger sister and her best friend. Although no one would ever admit, Bekah was Mikael's favorite. Caroline's heart bled when she thought about what Rebekah's reaction would be when they told her

"Look Klaus, If you need anything... anything at all, okay? I'm here." And she sincerely meant it.

Klaus finally turned to look at her – only now – Caroline wish he hadn't. The melancholic expression that took over his face made her want to cry along with him. She felt so utterly helpless and here she was thinking that Tyler being married was the biggest problem in the world. Klaus' situation made hers' seem like a tap on the wrist.

"Actually," Klaus looked down to his hands knotted in each other before clearing his throat " There is one small thing..."

* * *

"Caroline's flight has been delayed."

"By how long?"

"She didn't say although I don't think they mind. It'd be good for her and the mystery man to have some alone time before she brings him here." Lexi chuckles as she watches Stefan sigh, running a hand through his light brown hair. "With you as her brother, I almost feel sorry for the guy."

"I am no that bad." He retorted

"Hmm." She pecked him on his lips. The little frown line that formed on his forehead whenever he was annoyed was so adorable, she could not resist.

"What do you know about Care's _mystery man_?" He suddenly asked "I know she probably told you some things she just **forgot** to mention to me. I know how you girls are with your woman bro-code and what have you."

"Caroline didn't tell me anything."Lexi said rolling her eyes at her husbands paranoia "Although she must really be serious about this guy since she's bringing him to Liz's wedding. So **you** better be on your best behavior mister." His wife waved a warning finger at him, much like when she scolded their son for being naughty.

"I didn't even know she had a boyfriend and now she's bringing this guy home, and what's with all the secrecy though?" Stefan questioned "If you ask me this guy definitely has something to hide."

Lexi had found herself wondering on numerous occasions exactly why Caroline was being so secretive about her guy. It was very unlike her but she decided not to dwell too much on that given her less than great luck in that department. "I think you've been spending way too much time with Klaus. You're almost as paranoid as him." She said, incredulous at his ability to act like a petulant child.

"Exactly."

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Lexi eyed him suspiciously; the cunning smirk on his face already gave away that he was up to something and if Klaus was involved, it usually meant bad news.

"Oh nothing..." he feigned innocence but Lexi knew better. As sweet, kind and open as her husband was, he was also cunning, sneaky and diabolical when the occasion presented itself. She blamed it merely on Klaus' influence.

"Stefan Salvatore, what did you do?"

Surely if he had somehow conjured up a plan that involved Klaus, Caroline's mystery man didn't stand a chance.

"I may have convinced Klaus to get on the same flight as Caroline and her mystery dude. And if anything, he'll sure as hell make the flight as _**comfortable**_ for them as possible." Stefan retorted, barely even able to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. He thought about the interrogation Klaus was dishing out on Caroline's guy probably at that very minute and he only but hoped that his best-friend didn't hold back.

"You know Caroline's going to kill you right,"

Despite the three-year difference between himself and Caroline, they had always taken pleasure in irritating each other to a constant. What could he possibly say? He was her older brother and like most older brothers, Stefan took the utmost delight in tormenting her. He idly remembered a few childhood memories in the backseat of their car becoming a war-zone over what radio channels' they wanted to listen to and windows being rolled far too down.

"She's going to thank me when she realizes that her so called mystery man is not good enough for her." And moat probably was not. Stefan highly suspected the reason for Caroline not letting out a peep about her new beau, is because she knew Stefan would not approve so technically, he was simply just saving her the trouble of flying all the over to Chicago for him to simply tell her what she already knew - he does not approve.

"Seriously Stefan will anyone ever be good enough for your little sister?" Lexi deadpanned

Caroline was annoying as hell, loud, clumsy, and way too soft-hearted for Stefan's liking. But she was remarkable, kind and beautiful and she had been raised in a good home with people who love her. If there was a man who could lay the world at her feet, he would be good enough for his sister - but until then...

"Highly doubt it."

* * *

"You what?!"

Caroline's outburst had been so loud she even scared herself in addition to it reaching the delicate ears of people sitting in first class. Irritated, sleep deprived passengers turned around to scowl at her and if looks could kill... Klaus had in turn, smiled apologetically at the offended passengers taking it upon himself to beg their pardon for Caroline's loud exclamation. She stared at him in shock - how could he just sit there all nonchalant like almost as if nothing had happened just now.

"Why would you tell your parents that we're engaged?!" Caroline hissed through clenched teeth. His care-free attitude towards the entire situation only fueled her fury all the more. Her mind went into overdrive. She idly wondered if perhaps there was something she said, or maybe even agreed to doing whilst under the influence. Surely Klaus had to know that she was not in a proper state of mind. How dare he take advantage of her when she was in a weakened fragile state.

"I didn't–" Caroline covered her face with both hands unable to hide the mortification she felt. "–I didn't say or do anything to make you think that I'd want to get engaged to you did I?"

"What? No. Caroline listen–"

"Because you have to know that I was high on some unknown god-forsaken pill that I hope to never see, touch or ingest in the near future."

"Caroline would you just listen for a second." He groaned shaking his head. Her need to ramble on had been a tendency of hers' often presenting itself in times when she was really anxious or nervous. At least that was one thing he remembered from their childhood that hadn't changed. "You said some pretty weird shit yes, but that's not why I said we were engaged."

Caroline wondered why on earth he just assumed that she would willingly go along with this. Out of all the women he could possibly have asked... he had a roster for god's sake! "Well then what on earth could possibly posses you to **claim** me as your fiance?" she stared at him incredulously

Klaus sighed "You had to hear how broken he sounded when he said that he regretted not having met the woman I'd be married to." Caroline swallowed, her heart already going out to Mikael. "I just wish you could hear how happy it made him when I told him it was **you**."

Caroline just stared at him. Her mind had been racing with everything and nothing all at once. At one point she could sympathize with Klaus and understand his reasons - dumb, although admirable at the same time. Mikael was a good man, had always been a great mentor not just to her but to her brother as well. Caroline practically grew up in their home, always having sleepovers with Rebekah and hockey matches with the boys in the backyard... He was like a second dad to her if not more. She didn't know if she could possibly live with lying to a terminally ill man but then again, could she deny him his dying wish of seeing his son happily married?

"You know what, just forget it. I should never have put you in this position. It was a stupid idea. I'm sorry. Let's just forget it okay? It was stupid." Klaus said interrupting her train of thought

She nodded slowly, lulling over his request. Aside from the fact that his choice in bride was not exactly thrilling, there was nothing wrong with his demand. He was only trying to make his dying father happy, what was so wrong about that? "No." Caroline added "It wasn't stupid. Not under the circumstances. You just took me by surprise and I overreacted."

Dwelling over the impending consequences to keep up this charade that Caroline knew would surely come, she couldn't help but think about the pro's. She still had to come up with an excuse as to why her very much anticipated mystery man was a no-show and perhaps if Klaus... no no no. That was a terrible idea.. even though it would possibly save her the embarrassment, it would surely open up a whole new can of worms that she had no desire of dealing with. The real question was _c_ ould she really lie to Mikael though it didn't seem worth the effort of saving her own skin.

"I can't do it Klaus. Even to make your dad happy... It's dishonest and I respect him too much."

"Look Caroline, just try to look at it from a different perspective. The time I have left with him are going to be the best his ever had because seeing me with you makes him happy. But if you really don't want to, I completely understand. I'll just clear everything up as soon as we land." He sighed resignedly

 _Way to make her feel good Klaus_

The more Caroline had time to think about it, the more weary she became. Klaus had been in their lives for as long as she can remember. It was safe to say that their families were a close-knit bunch. Stefan would surely kill Klaus, then her... Her brother knew a bit, if not most of Klaus' Casanova ways. And don't even get her started on Rebekah...

"It was a stupid idea, I don't know why I said that we were engaged I just- it was stupid."

"No Klaus it wasn't stupid. Given the circumstances I guess I would've done the same if I were in your situation. I just don't think I can lie to Mikael or Esther or even Rebekah." Caroline sighed "I'm sorry."

"I understand. I will clear everything up with my parents the minute we land."

Caroline nodded.

* * *

The Commercial AER plane landed at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Caroline and Klaus were among the first few passengers off the terminal. For the purpose of her rather disheveled appearance on the plane with remnants of drool along her cheek and her clothes that reeked of Tyler's cologne, Caroline made a fast attempt to change into a fresh pair of clothing and re-did her make-up flawlessly just before they landed. Putting make-up on in a crammed space with limited supplies had been a rather unlikely skill she developed over the few months she'd been with Tyler. Out of the entire time she dated that asshole - Caroline felt a minuscule ounce of satisfaction that something good indeed had come out of it.

Klaus held onto her elbow lightly, guiding her and making sure her path was clear through the terminal.

She was exhausted – despite the immense amount of opportunity she had to sleep on the plane. After the shocking revelation Klaus made earlier well, it was safe to say that she could not get in a wink of sleep for the remainder of the flight. Caroline was also emotionally drained and was being consumed by guilt with the idea of Mikael having cancer and having no less than six months to live. The added tension of discovering her boyfriend of a year had been cheating on her and that Klaus' parents were now under the impression that she was his fiance, neither one sat well with her. It was safe to say that Caroline was spent, and ready to crawl into a hole and disappear.

As they neared the doors of the airport terminal, Caroline turned expectantly toward Klaus. "Your parents are the only people you've told right?" Over the years, Klaus and Caroline had developed a sort of monosyllabic jargon that passed as banal conversation, yet they were in essence, communicating quite clearly to one another. It resulted from years of practice, and from knowing each other all of their lives

"Yes. I swear." He responded way too casually for Caroline's liking. Did this whole ordeal not freak him the least bit out as much as it did her? Eh- his man-whore lifestyle probably gave him the confidence to pull this off, she mused.

Nodding tentatively in response, Caroline lulled over the sense of relief in not having to right away explain to her family why she was engaged to Klaus and happened to forget to mention it to them. At least it was only his parents, she thought wryly. The idea of the freak-like frenzy her family would be in if they thought Caroline was engaged made her grimace - and engaged to Klaus no less. Stefan would freak for sure. Caroline began to laugh at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Klaus eyed her suspiciously making Caroline laugh even more louder. The melodic tone made him smile, it always had.

"Can you imagine if we had to explain this to both of our families?" She spoke in between giggles

Klaus rubbed the back of his neck and smiled uneasily. "Stefan would bloody kill me."

"Never mind you! What would Bekah do to me?" Caroline grimaced as she imagined her blonde bestie yanking her hair and clawing her eyes out while looking fabulous at the same.

"She'd be thrilled if you ask me!" Klaus chuckled throwing an arm around her shoulders "You two have always been like sisters ever since you were little."

"Don't be so sure-"

" **Surprise!** "

Neither Klaus nor Caroline could have predicted that when they landed in Chicago at three in the afternoon that this would be the site that would meet them. Klaus dropped his bag while Caroline stared – her mouth completely floored with the spectacle that had taken root before her. She thought that perhaps it was her nervous mind playing tricks on her so she turned to Klaus, only to find him staring slack-jawed at the ensemble – so it was horribly real then.

Their at the end of the terminal stood **both** their families – nearly blocking off their entire doorway – smiling and clapping. Before Caroline or Klaus could even blink, they were both bombarded with hugs, wet kisses and offers of congratulations.

Klaus finally snapped out of his daze when his mother squeezed him in a tight hug. "Mother" He whispered harshly, "what did I tell you?"

Out of the corner of his peripheral view he could see Caroline as white as a ghost when her mother – Liz hugged her, exclaiming her joy at the proposal "This was the best wedding gift you could ever give me!"

"You look so thin - well, thinner." Liz exclaimed pinching Caroline's cheeks

"Mom-"

He noticed Caroline's eyes scanning the rest of the crowd and he knew she was on the look-out for Stefan – It appeared he had not been a part of the welcoming committee and Klaus had to admit that even he had been grateful.

"Do not give me that look Niklaus, I promise I didn't breathe a word." Esther shrugged indifferently but could not refrain from her eyes glancing over to his father – Mikael, who was smiling unapologetic. "Your father on the other hand..."

Klaus opened his mouth to respond, but Mikael raised his hand, silencing him. "Come on Niklaus," he said and gestured between Klaus and Caroline "did you really think I was going to keep this a secret? My boy is finally getting married, and to one of the finest women I know. How was I possibly suppose to keep that a secret hmm?"

Klaus saw Caroline shift awkwardly as Esther pulled her into a hug, kissing both of her cheeks. As soon as he found her eyes – he regretted looking in the first place – because judging from the look she gave him, she pleaded with him to do something, anything for that matter. He could not however, be of any assistance and stared back at her helplessly.

Klaus could not get over how happy Mikael looked. How could he possibly bring himself to correct the situation now? – Surely Mikael would be very disheartened not to mention that he had a weak heart and Klaus would not want him to get worked up. With Mikael so happy – his mother and Liz too, there was no way he saw out of this... at least not right now.

Caroline felt utterly lost and almost on the verge of coming clean right there and now when she saw Bill, her mothers' fiance – soon to be husband walk up beside her. "No wonder you wouldn't tell us anything about your _mystery man_." He exclaimed and Klaus smiled at that.

Caroline's lack of detail on that Tyler douche bag had definitely worked in their favor. He was kind of glad that it came off so believable and that no one questioned their fidelity. Klaus almost chuckled at how gulible everyone was and caught himself thinking – would it really make this much people happy if he married Caroline, his best friend's kid-sister from next door, the same girl that had blonde pigtails and dorky glasses

The impending thought that they were home-free slowly began creeping up Klaus' thoughts when he saw Caroline. Judging from her lack of enthusiasm, rigid posture and flushed complexion, he suspected that she was more annoyed than anything with their current situation.

"Caroline, honey where's your ring, why don't you have one?"

Liz's perceptive observation had cut through his thoughts and Caroline whirled her head to Klaus'. He could see that she no longer tried to keep her inner thoughts at bay and she looked livid. "Klaus, I need to talk to you. **Right now**." She exclaimed, linking her arm through his and tugging him away from the crowd.

Klaus looked down at her and almost sighed at the storm he saw brewing in her green eyes. "Ouch – okay." He turned back to their families but they had all be so absorbed in congratulating each other and chatting unconcerned among themselves they barely even notice the coupling sneaking away.

"You do realize that this is the woman's bath– Hi how are you-" Klaus stuttered as a woman made her way out of one of the bathroom stalls and eyed him suspiciously. Caroline turned on her heel and glared at him never-minded by the fact that they were in the ladies bathroom getting questioning glares from a few retreating females.

"I've never been in the girls bathroom without having sex in it, this is actually the first time I-"

"What the Hell are you doing? Father Kieran is out there!" Caroline shrieked while pointing an accusatory finger at him. Klaus had already been getting dirty looks from being in here and now Caroline's shouting was sure enough to draw even more unwanted attention.

Klaus smiled anxiously as another woman passed with nothing more than a raised brow

Father Kieran was a pastor and very close friend of the family; both families that is. He married Elijah and his first/now ex-wife, Stefan and Lexi and would also be doing Liz and Bill's upcoming nuptials. Him being present and a part of the welcoming committee definitely drew the wrong sort of ideas from Caroline. She never agreed to fake marry Klaus! "How are we suppose to tell our families we're not engaged now huh? My mom just asked me where my engagement ring was Klaus! You know how OCD she is, she'll figure it out."

"What do you want me to do?!" Klaus ran his hand through his hair, which by now he was sure stood in all places after the day's eventfulness

"I don't know! – I'm not marrying you!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Who said anything about marriage? We're flying back to New York in less than a week." Klaus retorted.

"What, so you just want me to play fiance for a few days?" She asked - incredulous

Klaus fell silent at her statement.

"Is that too much too ask?"

Caroline gasped at his audacity and punched him straight against his hard chest.

"Ow - okay okay, maybe it is just a little bit too much to ask." He wondered why he chose Caroline in the first place. She was right - there were plenty of women that would jump at the opportunity to play Klaus' fake fiance for a weekend. But then he remembered how happy Mikael sounded after hearing that Caroline was his fiance. "But I'm not asking for my family or for me love, I'm asking for my father. Think about all the good that'll come from making a dying man happy."

Being in his life ever since he can remember, Caroline was the most logical option. His family already loved her and unlike a total stranger - Caroline wouldn't be cross-questioned by his siblings about how they met and a backstory on their love life. With Caroline it was easier, everyone could naturally assume that they had fallen in love - their story was plausible, he just didn't expect the reactions from everyone - especially Mikael.

"Caroline. My father is so happy... I don't think I've ever seen him this happy before. "

"You really want to do this?" She stared at him incredulously

Klaus merely nodded in response. "If not to save ourselves the embarrassment from our families, do it for my father. He was so happy just knowing that we were engaged. Think of how happy he will be seeing us together? Please Caroline - for my dad." Klaus knew he was not being fair playing on her emotions by pulling the sympathy card, he couldn't help it though. The reality of it all was that Mikael was dying and had little time left - this was basically his father's dying wish - how could he not try and concede it?

Caroline could feel her resolve crumbling, the puppy dog eyes and pouted lips was not a good look on Klaus - but it worked. "Arrgh - Fine."

"Thank you love." He smiled genuinely at her and she rolled her eyes

Caroline cringed thinking about all the people that were most likely waiting for the both of them right outside the bathrooms. "Don't thank me yet, let's first see if we can pull off this whole charade in front of our fam-" "wha-what are you doing?" she frowned seeing Klaus take her hand in his before he intertwined their fingers.

"Got to make it believable right?" He smirked and led her out of the women's bathroom

 ** _This is going to be one long week..._**

* * *

 **Never underestimate the power of a reviewer...**

 **xx**


	4. Chapter 4: Moving In

**Chapter Four: Moving In**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters of _The Vampire Diaries/The Originals,_ neither do I own the plot as it is based on the 2013 movie: _One Small Hitch._ Other _s_ cenes used in this story will be referenced at the bottom as I do not take any credit for it whatsoever.

* * *

The sun seemed to be in a hurry to rise as the next morning came quickly. It was a beautiful day for August it was not too hot – around eighty degrees and no humidity. Lexi walked into the kitchen yawning slightly as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. It looks like she had been the last to get up that morning seeing as Stefan and baby Liam were already sitting at the counter having their breakfast. She hardly ever slept in but prior to last night's earful of venting she got from Stefan courtesy of Caroline and Klaus' surprise engagement, she was tired.

"Good morning my handsome men." She grinned kissing Liam and then Stefan. He still had a very serious expression on his face and she knew that he was no way near being over the news of the surprise engagement. Deciding that he was just not going to let this go, Lexi indulged him. "So what makes you think that she's pregnant?" she asked peering into the fridge.

Stefan was in the process of feeding Liam but with a frown on his face, one would think that the amount of concentration he put in was as if he was about to diffuse a bomb. Lexi knew he was highly annoyed and based on the fact that they he had immediately arrived at the fact that Caroline was pregnant, pissed him off even more.

Lexi hands Stefan a tub of Liam's sweetened potato baby food.

"Because I know Klaus okay – the only way his getting married is if he – you know." He said gesturing to his son in the high chair "Had to." He tries to open the jar but it would not budge at all. It's like nothing was going his way this morning. This was most definitely not his day.

"What?" Lexi deadpans and takes the jar from him. Opening the jar effortlessly.

"I mean that's – how did you even do that?" Stefan shakes his head as Lexi hands him the opened jar of baby food. "Caroline is not even his type!"

"No. No, see because people can change. Maybe his grown very tired of dating these airheads with fabulous tits... Oh my god she's totally pregnant." Lexi chuckled

"Son of a bitch!"

"Look before you go all kill bill on him. Know that there are other possibilities" Lexi says shaking a bottle of warmed milk for Liam

"Like what? Love? Come on you've been around them they're always ragging on each other. Stefan scoffed

"It's foreplay." Lexi wiggles her eyebrows suggestively

"Okay. So let's say they are in love. Why didn't he call me, why didn't she call me?"

"Well Gee I don't know maybe they didn't think that you'd approve. You're not exactly jumping for joy here."

"Well can you blame me?!" He shrieked. The idea that Klaus had gotten Caroline pregnant made him livid. He for one had a front row seat to Klaus' escapades over the years and the belittling and whoring around - it was just not his sister. Caroline was incapable of having a no strings attached because she fell too hard and too quick and that is exactly why she and Klaus could not ever work.

"Honey.."

"What?"

Lexi pointed down to his hands and he looked down noticing that he had unknowingly been holding his sons' teddy bear in a choke hold position.

Stefan sighed putting the bear down. The glum look on his face made Lexi feel a little bad. Stefan had been more hurt about being kept in the dark rather than the fact that Klaus was marrying his sister.

"Look... Why don't you call him?"

"If he wants to talk to me. He can call me."|

* * *

The news of Caroline and Klaus' engagement spread with amazing speed. Distant relatives from all over were capered around the large living room embracing the Aunts whose faces shone with relief and joy. A happy party was soon assembled and to the hushed remarks of the fact that Caroline might be pregnant with Niklaus' child, dynasties were cemented and wedding plains laid.

It came as no surprise that the entire Mikaelson clan showed up. Most likely to witness the shocking fact that the family's most renowned bachelor had finally decided to tie the knot - and to a young girl that had been close to the family for many years. Despite the fact that there were many pregnant rumors flying about, they couldn't be more pleased. Heck, they were more pleased that Klaus would finally put a stop to his whorish ways and putting the family name in the eyes.

"Lexi!" Klaus sighs relieved to see his best mates wife as he descends the grand staircase. Truth be told he was glad to see her arriving alone rather than with Stefan. He had yet to speak to his best friend and knowing that Stefan had to find out by his mother that Klaus was marrying his kid-sister was definitely a low blow. Klaus was almost certain that Stefan wanted to kick his entitled arse right now. It was a good thing Lexi came alone. Klaus didn't need to make a scene in front of all these people.

Lexi mouthed a 'you are in so much trouble.' after pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"I know. I know." Klaus sighed pulling her into a hug. "Where is Stefan, I have to talk to him."

"You mean to let him know that you're engaged to his little sister? Yeah –" Lexi giggled "He knows."

"I can explain everything-" Klaus explained and then looks to his left. Caroline had been cornered by a little girl he was sure was a distant cousin and an older man with a dark black beard. His uncle Tom. A man very proud of his Jewish religion who he was sure, had gone over to interrogate Caroline on how she planned on becoming a dotting Jewish wife. Caroline was catholic. And although most of his family already loved her, the older aunts and uncles had a little bit of a hard time in accepting this fact. He blamed it on their old school rigid upbringing.

"Just a second Lex." Klaus excused himself knowing he had to go and rescue Caroline. Before he had almost made it to his destination, Bill – Caroline's almost step-father had him cornered

"Klaus! Listen uh – cousin Phil was suppose to walk with Caroline down the aisle tomorrow. But in light of what's happened I think that maybe you could?" Bill smiled. "It would make for good practice you know."

"Excellent idea Bill. Excuse me for just a second," Klaus walked off but not before he heard Bill yell an excited "Welcome to the family!" over at him.

It really was astounding as to how happy the little lie had made not only Klaus' father but almost everyone else as well. And on that note, he realized that when this whole thing blew up in their faces, it wouldn't just be Mikael that would be devastated but their entire families as well. Klaus decided to push the thought to the back of his mind for now and focus on the positive. So far everyone had believed their little act so he really was worrying over nothing.

Caroline stared curiously at the two figures in front of her. They clearly wanted to say something but much to her discomfort had only been staring at her in dead silence for the last 15 minutes. She got that alot of people thought she was pregnant and perhaps a little stare off was suppose to intimidate her to some end. But she had been keeping up this little charade for hours now and to say the least, Caroline was exhausted. She was even more irked that Klaus had left her here alone to deal with his family and all their lousy questions.

The little girl kept staring at her and so did Klaus' uncle and Caroline kept waiting for them to say something until eventually she just sighed and mustered out an annoying "what?"

"How are you going to raise the kids?" The little girl asked and Caroline stared at her incredulously. She couldn't be more older than 8 years old.

'How do you mean?" Caroline asked

The little girl sighed at her answer and looked up to Klaus' uncle to clarify. "Niklaus was raised in a Jewish home." He said eyeing Caroline from head to toe as if calculating her value and ability to birth and raise Klaus' kids.

Caroline was about to retort when Klaus appeared in her peripheral view. He smiled nervously at Caroline already noticing how annoyed she was. He placed a comforting hand on his uncle "Uncle Tom. It's a little early too be talking about kids, isn't it.." Klaus laughed nervously.

"Actually.." Caroline trailed off. A stroke of evil genius having struck at that moment. "Klaus and I were just discussing baby names on the way over here."

"What... Caroline-"

"What do you think about the name Luke?" She asked the question directed at the little girl who's mouth had dropped to the floor with Caroline's choice in names

"Er – can I speak to you for a moment sweetheart." Klaus pulled on Caroline's arm

"Oh yeah baby sure." She smiled at the girl and man – obviously having been peeved off by Caroline she before walked off with Klaus

He pulled her into the foyer which had had been empty since all of the guests had been in the main hall drinking and congratulating each other with the latest engagement news.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Oh I'm just winging it." She replied sarcastically

"Oh yeah? Well try winging it someplace else because making jokes about naming our child after one of the ten Apos-"

"There are twelve, genius."

"Yeah whatever. It isn't helpful." Klaus' voice was now raised

* * *

Esther had brought out her cream damask tablecloths that she saved only for the most special occasions and had it spread across the table, which had been set with her collection of fine china, silver and crystal that enhanced the room to sparkle like sun-kissed snow. The long oval table was decked with roses accompanying the delicious _filet mignon_ , _chicken cordon bleu_ and _roasted duck with raspberry glaze_ served with the casual elegance of a special _diner en famille_. Esther was beside herself with joy that she lived to see the day Niklaus settle down and get married and to a woman she knew would suit him well.

Liz who after her second glass of champagne had become very talkative and gushed over the impending plans of Caroline and Klaus' wedding alongside Esther who threw in her ideas at any given turn. "Caroline hasn't said anything yet but I'm sure she has her heart set on the Congress Plaza Hotel."

"Nonsense. They could have it right here at the estate and it wouldn't even cost them a fortune." Mikael added

"The important thing is, is that they are together and we're going to be a family."

They are in the midst of planning their children's wedding, the conversation reached a point to where Bill felt that since Caroline is Catholic perhaps they should go for a more traditional church wedding which didn't bode that well with Esther. bout planning the wedding for their children and who will marry the children. Eventually both Bill, Liz and Esther and Mikael got into an intense discussion on the traditions of the wedding, whether it would be in a church, all catholic like for Caroline or with the rightful Jewish traditions for Klaus.

"Well actually we haven't given any thought to what's going to officiate it.." Esther replied

"Oh..." Bill trailed off "So Father Kieran is doing the honors for me and my lovely bride to be tomorrow." After a long halt of awkward silence stretched between the two pairs, Bill asked "You're not worried about Caroline being Catholic are you?"

"No! – Absolutely not."

"Not at all." Mikael and Esther replied almost immediately

"And you're not worried about Niklaus being Jewish are you?" Mikael asked

"Of course not." Liz and Bill giggled as if it were the most silliest thing they'd ever heard. Although both couples secretly wondered if the other one were being honest.

"The important thing is that they're in love." Liz said

"Exactly!" Everyone else answered.

* * *

His breathing rasped every bit as fast as hers as they stared at each other. The air in the room was thick with tension and emotion. He could see the exhaustion and annoyance behind her anger. It was cute at first but then he just became exasperated as she opened her mouth to yell again

"I know this may be difficult for you to understand, but look at it from my perspective – I came here to go to my Mom's wedding... not to sit around eating rug'o'lots –"

"Rug lots" Klaus said

"Whatever! With the entire tribe of Israel!" Caroline shrieked

The heated debate got only more intense when both Klaus and Caroline took their exhaustion at the whole fake-pretending out at each to their spots they could not move. Given their frame of minds and in the over excitement of arguing, they failed to notice the sound of footsteps that drew nearer to them on the hardwood floor

"Oh wow! Wow! You got a problem with my people?" He asked nearly shrieking

Caroline grunts an unladylike sound.

"Because let me tell you something love. You're people are just peachy 'Oh I'm Irish let me do a little jig for you, where's the whiskey? I love lucky charms. I won a pot of gold where's my pot of gold?" He imitates and fails miserably at an Irish impression

"Okay – now you're just embarrassing yourself." Caroline rolls her eyes

"You're embarrassing yourself."

"You're a child!"

"You're a child!"

At a little sound of a throat being cleared, they both turn to notice Esther, Mikael, Liz and Bill standing in the foyer watching the entire scene unfold before them with knowing smiles on their faces. "Oh.." Klaus mutters and realizes the jig is up. They might as well just come clean right here and now. He only hoped they could understand their reasons behind doing what they were doing and they never meant for anyone to get hurt.

"Okay – I guess its about that time." He says edging closer, with Caroline right behind him – a nervous smile on her face when she realizes his about to come clean and explain this whole mess. She's relieved. " Mother, Father – thank you so much for everything but the thing is-"

"Where are you going? We still have more desserts coming?"

"More desserts?" Caroline stares at them completely dumbstruck

"My only daughter is getting married and you don't think we're going to throw her and her fiance the greatest welcome home/ congratulations party?" Liz chastised with her hands on her hips

A brief look passed between Klaus and Caroline who realized that they're parents were still convinced they were honestly and literally engaged to be married. Klaus didn't know whether he should be relieved or really concerned.

"Ah – well you know we're just really.." Klaus looks at Caroline who nods "Really exhausted from the flight and-"

"Well alright. You two get some rest, the guest room's all made up." Esther smiled

Caroline's eyebrows shot to her hairline and she looks at Klaus expectantly with a 'fix it right now' look. Playing fiance for a few days was one thing but sleeping in the same bed was a totally different thing entirely.

"Well uhm – We were actually thinking that we'd go to a hotel." Klaus mumbles out sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck "Yep." Caroline agreed popping the 'p' sound and nearly turn around to run out of there if it were not for Klaus' hand on her elbow holding her steady.

By the look on both their parents faces they were clearly appalled by the idea of them staying at a hotel. Of course - why did Caroline think it could honestly be that easy. Nothing was ever easy when it came to their family.

"A hotel?!"

"No way. Caroline you're staying with us."

"There is plenty of room here sweetheart."

Esther and Liz answered repeatedly in addition to stating reasons why staying at a hotel was the worst idea in the world. Klaus sighed incredulous. He literally had no idea what to do or say next but gave his mother an exasperated look which she eventually picked on "If it's privacy you want, you're more than welcome to the store's apartment." His mother eventually said

"Don't you keep storage in there and-"

"So there's some inventory so what? It's got everything you need. And its only five minutes from here." Esther smiled

"It's close to us." Liz smiled in turn

Klaus and Caroline stared at each other. He gave her a tight-lipped smile and she knew there was no other option but the stores apartment. Caroline had no desire to be pretending to be all giddily in love with Klaus 24/7 and they would surely have to do that if they stayed at either one of their parents houses so that was a definite no-no. When she arrived at JFK that morning to board a plane to Chicago for her mom's wedding, never in a million years did she think this is what could've happened.

It seemed fate had other plans in store.

* * *

A slight wind blew through the streets making Caroline's dress wave all along her legs as they walked down Edgewater in Lincoln Park. Chicago wasn't called a windy city for nothing. Her surroundings - strangely familiar although the last time she'd walked down any street in Chicago she still had braces and acne and thought she was going to end up being a famous pop star singer. Looking back she couldn't help but smile sheepishly at the thought of her immature teen self. As she walked, Caroline was getting an earful of activities happening over the next few days that required both her and Klaus' attendance. They also hinted at how attending all these prenuptial gatherings would make for good practice for them for which Caroline just hummed in agreement but mentally threw up in her head like a dozen times

Esther led her, keeping her arm hooked in Caroline's with Liz hooked into her other while they made their way to Edgewater street and turned right. It was equally strange and comforting as to how normal she felt walking arm in arm with Esther with Klaus, Mikael and Bill tugging behind them with her luggage. Not too long after had they reached their destination. The antique styled store could not be described as anything other than classy. With large french windows, dark wood mahogany doors and window frames, it had Esther Mikaelson written all over it.

One of Esther's little hobbies that eventually just became a thing. The unique part of the building was that it came with an upstairs open floor apartment with everything someone living there would need. And since Caroline flat out refused to stay over at either Klaus' family home nor her own, Esther insisted they make use of the apartment. Both Klaus and Caroline knew why though – it was sort of an in between spot between their families making it rather obvious that they wanted to keep them close.

"Here we are!" Esther jiggled the keys looking like Christmas just came early as she handed them to her son totally ignoring the way Klaus openly rolled his eyes. She led them to a side entrance of the store where they found a staircase leading them to the store's apartment which was on the second floor. "Okay so if you need anything and I mean **anything** at all, you call okay? We are just five minutes away after all." Esther pulls Caroline into a warm embrace and kisses both her cheeks making her giggle.

After thanking all of their parents Klaus kisses his mother and Liz's cheek, she even cracks a joke that he would be calling her 'mom' very soon and he just chuckles nervously while Caroline rolls her eyes. She knew deep down that Liz was over thrilled that Caroline was so called ending up with someone who had money well enough money to look after her daughter because let's face it – she still didn't see Caroline as an adult capable of making her own decisions. Another reason why is because she would have hated to see Caroline with a band member – God forbid.

"There are fresh linens in the cupboard in the living room oh and Caroline- Rebekah is flying in tomorrow and since I know you haven't broken the news to her yet I set up a little girl's lunch in after she lands so you two could catch up!" Esther gushes and Caroline goes pale

"Er thanks Mom. We'll see you tomorrow." Klaus nervously chuckles at the mere though of Rebekah reigning an absolute terror on him and Caroline for keeping this from her when in fact ' **this** ' was but a big charade. As Caroline and Klaus walk up the stairs, they stare out the glass window on the door as their parents stand and wave rather enthusiastically at them and way too over excited,

"My god they're like orcs from Jewish middle earth." Klaus says as he stares at them. Caroline just breathes a sigh in relief to finally be able to relax and not pretend, Caroline makes a star wars reference about going into war and Klaus just shakes his head – he doesn't know about Star Wars. He stands for a while actually thinking that there was much more to Caroline than meets the eye and she wasn't just your ordinary girl next door. When he watches her tread up the stairs he realizes that she's left him with all of their bags and luggage and he sighs

"It's cool though love. I could probably get all of these bags up there by myself."

"Here we go," He says when he reaches the top, unlocks the door to push it open and Caroline is greeted bu the sight of her new home for the next week.

* * *

Klaus takes a moment, allowing his eyes to roam around the open plan apartment. He had spent a great deal of his childhood in this place. He remembered bringing his first ever girlfriend up here to have his first kiss, the first time he had gotten into a really heated fight with his parents and he ran away to this little safe haven. It was always a place of peace and serenity for Klaus – How ironic that he would now be sharing it with Caroline for an entire week.

"Here we go."

"Wow."

"Yeah – it's not bad huh?"

"Yeah – its, gorgeous." Caroline says in awe. When Esther mentioned the stores apartment she honestly pictured a dusty old room with a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen all crammed into a single space but then again the Mikaelson's were loaded and she should know by now that they never did anything half-way.

"Its actually better than I remember." Klaus said

"Oh look, all those pictures are so cool."

The hardwood floor was complete with elongated pillars that stemmed from the ground to the high Victorian styled ceilings. The entire living space was open plan with a huge wall of pictures and frames separating the main bedroom from the living room. It was completely unique and very creative. There were large windows all around and Caroline figured that lighting played a huge part in adding the charm to this place. With all the paintings, vast colors of furniture and bursts of antique charm – the studio apartment was nothing if not profoundly stylish and tasteful.

"The bathroom is right here."

"Hmm."

"So uhm – if you need that.. And everything else is pretty much self-explanatory." Klaus frowned when he could no longer hear Caroline's heels clicking on the hardwood floor. He turned to find her staring at the master bedroom or more specifically the queen size bed made up with array of scatter cushions and draped in various textures of Egyptian cottoned sheets. The headboard itself looked as if it had been carved from a very special sort of wood. She made a mental note to ask about that later. The only thought that seemed to have festered in her mind right now was the fact that there were two of them and only one bed.

Klaus leaned against the pillar as he too – followed her gaze to the bed. He couldn't help but smirk as he already knew what she was thinking about.

"Er you know what – why don't you take the bed." Caroline said

"No Caroline you take the bed I will sleep on the – "

"No I really don't mind sleeping on the –"

"Caroline you're sleeping on the bed. I will take the couch."

"Alright I'll take the bed."

"Yeah." He sighed in relief. She was a weird creature. One minute she was arguing about the bed and the next she was glued to the large window beside the bedroom that overlooked a beautiful view of the city.

"Wow. It's beautiful."

Klaus came beside her and joined in on the adoration of the beautiful view of the city. He had to agree of course. This view had gotten many girls all hot and bothered and into his bed within the blink of an eye.

"Hey Caroline – I'm sorry I got all testy earlier."

"A little bit testy?"

"Yeah.. I uh- I don't really think that you sound like a Lepricon"

Caroline sighed. "I'm sorry too. I mean, it's not like this trip is going exactly as planned, you know."

"No it's not," He agreed and for the first time actually felt guilty for putting her through this. "But you really pulled it off. You did."

"Well." Caroline shrugged. "If I ever actually get engaged at least I'll know how to act right" She snickered and then sighed thinking to her bad luck with guys and relationships and then Tyler and his lying cheating ass.

"You made my father really happy today Caroline. Thank You." He said – sincerely grateful for her being here and doing this for him.

The sincere look on Klaus' face was hard to come by and indeed a rare sight for most. The way his eyes had glassed over – which she knew could only be a result of thinking about his father's illness and the little time he had left – Caroline felt sad too.

"Stop. You're going to make me cry." Caroline said.

"Come here." He smirked and pulled her into his arms enveloping her in a warm embrace. Caroline sighed against his chest. For the first time since arriving in Chicago she felt herself relax.

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

As Esther, Mikael, Liz and Bill walked casually outside departing from the building, Liz looks over her shoulder and gasps "Oh – look!" Once everyone has turned around to follow her gaze they all gasp as well.

They look up to the large window on the side of the building where they see Caroline in Klaus' arms. "We're going to be a family." Esther exclaimed and pulls a beaming Liz into her arms. Mikael and Bill watch the women hug and then look at each other. Bill shrugged but before he could do anything Mikael said "I'm not much of a hugger."

"Me neither."

They both start laughing and then pull each other into hugs as well making the women laugh

* * *

"So the good news is.." Klaus began breaking apart from Caroline, "I know everything about you, but the bad news is that you have tonight to learn all there is to know about me. So you should probably get to studying love."

"Excuse me? Have you forgotten that we grew up together? I know everything there is to know about you Niklaus Arthur Mikaelson." She retorted using his full name to emphasize her point.

"Maybe when we were like twelve years old Caroline Mary-Elizabeth Salvatore. "

"I bet you don't even remember a single thing about me." Caroline said

"Try me." He challenged

"What am I allergic to?"

"Pine nuts." He replied "What about me?"

"You are allergic to the full spectrum of human emotion." Caroline giggled "But that was a trick question, you don't have any allergies."

"Very good love."

After a long head space of thinking Caroline clapped her hands together in excitement. A question about herself, she was sure he would never know the answer to."Here's a good one.." He raised his eyebrows as a means of allowing her to go ahead.

"Do I have any scars?"

After regarding her for a minute she nearly shrieked out in laughter that he did not know the answer and just before she could do her victory dance he said "There is that one right underneath your forearm when you fell out our backyard tree because you got so angry when Kol and I said girls couldn't climb trees." He chuckled, remembering a little blonde girl with pigtails in their tree with a determined look on her face. "And I'm pretty sure you have a tattoo." He added

"Oh you're pretty sure?"

Klaus smirked

"Two years ago at Stefan and Lexi's Christmas Eve party, your dermatologist called and asked about a Q-switched laser. I googled a Q-switched laser and found that they in fact, do remove tattoos."

Caroline glared at Klaus but couldn't refrain from the red blush that took over her pale cheeks. So maybe he knew a few things but that didn't mean he knew her at all. She was so much different from the college girl Caroline that all of them had come to know. "So what is it? Tribal ink, Japanese calligraphy, Barbed wire? Don't tell me it's a tramp stamp." Klaus smirked "You're going to have to show me where it is. You know as a precaution if that question ever comes up."

"You know If I had known you were going to be such a dick about all of this I wouldn't have-"

"Oh come on Caroline you know I'm only teasing love."

"On to more mannered questions." Caroline replied as a means of asking him to drop that subject before she ended up changing her mind about the whole thing entirely. "Whose place do we stay at, yours or mine?"

"That's easy. Mine." Klaus replied

"And why wouldn't we stay at mine?" She frowned

"Because I live at Central Park West in a penthouse condo in one of the most esteemed hotels in the world. And you probably live at some squalid little studio apartment with stacks of yellowed Penguin Classics." He stated "Or am I wrong.." Klaus trailed off with a knowing smirk

"Well I am sure that my _squalid little studio_ has ten times more character and personality than your cold, colossal and empty penthouse condo.. Or am _ **I**_ wrong." She fired back

"Touché." Klaus forgot how much fire Caroline had in her personality. It was one the things he had always admired about her, besides her obvious beauty, clumsiness and foot in mouth verbal diarrhea.

After a few sparring matches about who has the best of what, a dozen or so questions later and a emptied bottle of wine, Klaus and Caroline had settled onto the couch. The questions had taken a turn for a more intimate route – much to Klaus' amusement. Despite the hefty amount of alcohol himself and Caroline had ingested he felt slightly buzzed but was very amused to see Caroline had been really feeling it. She was always such a light weight.

"I love the Psychic Network." She blurted out rather randomly

"What?"

"Not in the 'ha-ha, isn't that funny she likes that trash kind of way' I actually quite enjoy it. I think Brian Dennehy is sexy, I don't like flowers in the house 'cause they remind me of funeral, I read Wuthering Heights every Christmas because it's my favorite book. I haven't had an orgasm in over a year and a half and... I went to the bathroom and cried like a baby after I found out Tyler had been married."

"And the tattoo?"

"They're swallows. Got them as some sort of way to be close to Giuseppe." Caroline replied "I'm sure there are many many other things, but that's all I can come up with right now."

It had been deadly quiet for a long time when Caroline looked up from her wine glass to check if Klaus had fallen asleep or something. His lack of snarky remarks were very shocking to say the least and she knew she had over shared but the wine had given her a little bit of liquid courage and with the eventful day they had – it came as no surprise that she was spilling her guts to Klaus.

"You there?"

"I'm here." He replied "Just processing."

"So you never had an orgasm in 18 months?"

"Oh, my God. Out of all of that, that's all you got?"

"That's a really long time Caroline. What about that douche bag Tyler? He's never satisfied you in bed? Like ever?" This had been extremely shocking to Klaus. For a male being that had been accustomed to the sexual relations with the opposite sex, he knew how important it was for the human body to receive attention and a release every now and again. And by every now and again he definitely did not mean every 18 months. He actually found himself feeling terribly sorry for Caroline.

"I am not discussing my sex life with you Klaus." Caroline groaned already having regretted the over consumption of alcohol and her dastard foot in mouth tendency to be over honest.

"You cannot possibly give me a headline and not the entire full story Caroline."

After a few minutes of prying and empty threats to tickle it out of her she eventually caved. "With Tyler – I don't know. I guess he wasn't a very giving lover. It had always been very _vanilla."_

"And our little Miss Caroline Salvatore is much more interested in testing the waters in other choices of a variety of ice cream flavors.." He grinned making her grimace in response as she set her glass down onto the coaster.

"That is it. This conversation is officially over."

Klaus couldn't help but chuckle at her retreating figure. He caught himself wondering how on earth a woman such as Caroline had not been sexually satisfied in eighteen months. Surely that had to be a crime against nature itself. Then he wondered what her face looked like when she was nearly on the edge of relinquishing her pleasure all around him and – He stopped right about Caroline Salvatore- his best friend's kid-sister in this way was weird and...wrong on so many levels. He blamed it on the alcohol induced buzz in his head and Caroline's change of topic to her unfulfilled sex life.

A good night's rest would surely enough rid him of those thoughts was all he could think about before kicking off his shoes and pants followed by his dress shirt before sprawling out onto the couch.

* * *

 **AN:** Two updates in one week yaaaaaaaaaaay!

Oh btw - The ending scene was from _The Proposal_

Have an awesome weekend guys xx

#OneWeekUntilChristmas


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five -** Pre-nuptial gatherings

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own any rights to the characters and references to scenes used and inspired by will be mentioned as I do not take any credit for them whatsoever._

* * *

Klaus and Caroline woke up late on Sunday morning. The sun was out streaming across the bedroom. He got up and showered before she was fully awake, as she lay in the centre of the large bed, thinking of her situation, and everything that happened the day before. Moving into Esther's studio apartment, lulling everyone into the deception of being engaged and oh yes – having to tell Rebekah very soon. All put together, it made for a puzzle where none of the pieces fit smoothly. She felt as though she were trying to fit pieces together that showed trees, sky, half a cat, and part of a barn door. All together they didn't make a picture.

Caroline knew what the images were, but none of them was complete, and she didn't feel whole, either. All the pretending was starting to eat at her. She reminded herself that she didn't need a man to be complete. But so much of the relationship she had with Tyler was constantly half-assed. There never seemed to be a real connection between them. For the very simple reason that Tyler didn't want to be truly connected because he was already married.

"What are you looking so gloomy about?" She looked up to notice Klaus standing before the bed; he had just emerged from the bathroom. A pair of track pants hung loosely on his hips and his chest glistened with water droplets from the shower. Caroline found herself at a loss for words, and for a few minutes she tried hard to gather her bearings. "I was just thinking." She said, lying back against the pillows resumed to her inspection of the ceiling.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed, as he towel-dried is hair.

"About meeting Rebekah later." She physically deflated

"Ah." Klaus hadn't seen his sister in ages. Simply because their jobs always kept them in different time zones and on different continents. He wasn't exactly worried about her reaction; if anything she'd be thrilled that Caroline would become her sister-in-law. "She'll be fine love. She's always wanted a sister." He chuckled and quickly ducked as a pillow came flying for his head.

"I'm serious Klaus. I don't know how I feel about keeping this from her. She deserves to know about Mikael." Klaus' face then became serious as he regarded her stiffened demeanour. "I know."

"It's going to crush her. Wheter or not we hold out on her, she's bound to find out sooner or later and then? I don't think she'll forgive me."

"They've promised to tell them after the wedding, Caroline it's going to be fine."

She nodded but her face still seemed droopy. "It's not just Rebekah though is it? Come on spit it out." Klaus rolled his eyes

"I should have known _he_ was married."

Klaus sighed. "Look Caroline, I say this because you're my friend and I'm just going to be honest. Tyler is a scumbag son of a bitch and don't think about it too much. You probably weren't the only mistress anyway."

Wasn't this pep-talk supposed to be making her feel better? Klaus could be really brutal sometimes. "Oh really, how would you know?"

"Because I'm a guy. It's how we do it."

"He was so different when we first met. He said the sweetest things…"

"I don't care if he said you were his favourite female since his mommy and Joanie Cunningham. He just used you. His an asshole. Let me ask you something…" Klaus turned to face her "How long after meeting did it take for him to call you?"

Caroline lulled over Klaus' words and the truth was that she waited about two weeks or so. A little embarrassed Caroline rolled her eyes in defiance "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I knew it." Klaus chuckled

"But maybe he called me and I didn't get the message. Or maybe he lost my number, or was out of town, or was hit by a cab, or his grandma died." Caroline mumbled

"Or maybe he just didn't call because he was married."

"Yeah but my friend Bonnie once went out with this guy who never called and she totally wrote him off – then like a year later she ran into him."

"You're friend Bonnie is a bloody idiot. And she's the exception. Also they guy probably wasn't married."

"Okay. But what if I'm the exception?"

"You're not. You're the rule love. And the rule is – if a guy doesn't call you, he doesn't want to call you. Or in Tyler's case – his a lying married piece of shit."

"Really, like always?"

"Yeah. Always. I know what blowing off a woman looks like. I do it early and I do it often. Trust me – If a guy is treating you like he doesn't give a shit – he doesn't. No exceptions."

Caroline sits and mulls this over. "Why are you telling me all of this? Aren't these man-secrets – like why men need to watch televised golf?"

Klaus chuckles loudly, "I don't know. Maybe because you're my friend and I don't want you to get hurt?"

Caroline regards him through narrowed eyes, "Well – thanks. You've really given me a lot to think about." She smiles at him and then frowns when he puts on his watch

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to uh – jog over to Stefan and Lexi's to clear everything up. You want to come?" Klaus asks as he tugs a sweatshirt on over his tank top.

"Jog? No, I'm not really much of a jogger, more of a lay it out on the beach – hang out, not jog kinda girl." Caroline snorted as she got up out of bed. Her oversized T-shirt barely covered her bottom and her hair was a mess but she didn't care. It was just Klaus.

"Oh come on love. I'll go really slow," He pleaded and she secretly knew he had just wanted her there as a human shield in case Stefan pulled a gun on him. "It's the least you could do, after all… I gave you million-dollar worth advice and I promise to be there when you tell Rebekah."

Caroline stares at him incredulously

* * *

The slight breeze is welcomed as it cools his warm skin. Treading down the suburban street with ease, while Arctic Monkey's 'Do I Wanna Know' blares into his earphones. Once he reached the protruding brown two-story house, he slowed his pace and checked his watch. Less than ten minutes without even breaking a sweat. As he stretched his hamstrings he was startled by a little bark from atop the balcony. It was Stefan's dog. "Hey Toby." Klaus remembers fondly back to the days when himself and Stefan had gotten Toby. In-decisive that a Pug was a girly dog – Klaus had managed to convince him otherwise. It had in fact turned out for the best when Toby became the ultimate babe-magnet. Picking up girls was easy with that little monster.

His barking and slight jumping of excitement to see Klaus had garnered Stefan's attention as he emerged from the balcony doors. He does not look happy to see Klaus. To be totally honest, Klaus was kind of relived that there was a height difference in play, he felt much safer on the ground than up there with a fuming, livid Stefan Salvatore. – Unless of course, Stefan decides to do a spiderman jump off the balcony and kick his entitled ass. Klaus starts by taking his earphones out. "At least someone's happy to see me." He refers to Toby who stares at him, ears wagging and tail wiggling.

Stefan cannot believe the audacity of his so called "best friend". He knew a confrontation was coming. He wanted to punch him like really hard. "Oh I'm sorry – you expect me to do cartwheels after you knock my sister up?"

"I did not knock up your sister. It's not what you think – I swear."

Stefan shrugs incredulous. Okay – maybe he didn't knock Caroline up. But what kind of best friend gets engaged to your little sister and just so happens that he tells the entire family before he tells you. Wasn't there some kind of bro code that Klaus was breaking? Little sisters were off limits. At least he never tried anything with Rebekah back in the day, even though there were a couple of close calls. Just what about this entire situation made that okay?

"Are you going to hear what I have to say or just keep staring daggers at me all the way from the balcony?" Klaus presses his lips together with his hands behind his back. He watches Stefan's frown slightly turn to a much more neutral expression and is slightly relieved.

"Where's Caroline?"

Klaus actually takes a minute to think and turns around to look behind him. He'd only realize then that Caroline was nowhere to be seen. Damn she really was not a jogger. Oh well "Uh – right behind me." He shrugs

* * *

Chicago really had some of the nicest suburban neighbourhoods around. With the sun high in the sky, birds chirping, kids outside riding their bikes, who wouldn't appreciate the little slice of heaven? Definitely not Caroline, as she takes the corner in a breathless frail state. Okay so maybe being a cheerleader like forever ago didn't still pass as an excuse to stay away from gym. She was seriously losing her touch and couldn't even go half a mile without turning into a sweaty breathless mess.

She is dressed in a sport shorts, fitted sports bra and jacket unzipped as she treads further down the street. So even if she got to her brother's house a little later – at least she would look good. Remind her to kill Klaus when she gets there, that is of course – if Stefan hadn't already.

"Go slow my ass!"

* * *

Nothing could be heard but the sound of balls striking wood and the mutterings of players. The sound of clanging metal rose above the general din, like rifle shots of a sharpshooter in the middle of a battle "And the minute we got off the plan, we were literally attacked by a mass of people. By that time it was too late to say anything without blowing the news about my dad."

Stefan seems to understand this and he nods. They go back to their game. "So you're not still pissed are you?"

"Pissed?" Stefan asks as he shoots and scores, he seems much friendlier than before. From waking up that very morning being so grumpy to this afternoon when everything is so much better and seemed back to normal. "Nah – I mean naturally I was a little disgusted by the thought of you and my sister..."

"Naturally." Klaus rolls his eyes.

"But once I peeled that horrible horrible image from my mind, I could start to see how you guys actually got together." Stefan said and he even surprised himself by saying that. He guessed it were true in a way otherwise he would not have said it.

"Really?"

"Yeah – I mean she's a little ditsy but compared to the girls you've been with?" Stefan trails off

"I cannot argue with that." Klaus says

"Plus – it would have been cool to have you as a brother in law."

"That's sweet." Klaus bats his eyelashes at him

"Even though you suck at foosball." Stefan retorts

And at that moment both of their heads turn to the door as Caroline enters. "Oh my god.." She breathes out struggling to catch her breath. She is sweating and hungry and just a mess and she glares angrily over at Klaus. He can say what he wants but he totally left her hanging.

"I – need water." Then Lexi comes in behind Caroline to see that she is on the floor. "Oh my god. What happened?"

"He –" Caroline points an accusatory finger at Klaus "made me jog."

Klaus and Stefan laugh. Stefan then goes over to greet her and so does Lexi. Lexi then manages to pull Caroline away from the men and to the kitchen for something to eat. Which was also just code for wanting the inside scoop on what the heck was going on.

The kettle whistles on the stove. Caroline is seated at the barstool stuffing her face while Lexi prepares the tea after Caroline dished out all the gory details.

"Wow – you're like Mother Teresa."

"You would have done the same thing." Caroline points out. Lexi frowns. "I don't know – maybe. Maybe not." She says sitting next to Caroline by the counter, the rim of the mug close to her face while she lulls over everything she'd just been told. "If he was smart – he would have asked you for real."

Caroline shrugs indifferent "Yeah – well I'd turn him down though his not really my type."

"Oh yeah – now if only Klaus were in a band.."

"Oh suck it." Caroline manages to laugh and so does Lexi.

A loud rev from Stefan's vintage Porsche in the garage startles the two. Caroline remembers him being very obsessed with that car since he practically built it up from scratch. Lexi flinches at the sound of the monstrous engine and her eyes shoot to the baby monitor on the counter. "Oh god..." Caroline frowns, following her eyes to the monitor as she hears Lexi murmur "Please – please just let him sleep." "Please – please please..."

Soon enough the cries for ' _momma momma'_ comes booming through the device. "Remind me to run him over with that car," she says and Caroline grins. "Oh good – his awake. I haven't seen my nephew since he was a pink little batch of flesh." Caroline follows her sister-in-law up stairs to the nursery where she leans over into the crib to get him out. "Hello Mr Sweet Face." Lexi coos "Did you sleep well, do you want to see Aunt Caroline?"

As soon as Caroline takes Liam he starts fussing and holds his arms out for Lexi. "Just go to Aunt Caroline." Lexi encourages her to hold him but Liam's fussing makes Caroline nervous

"Oh – Lexi he doesn't want me, he wants you." Caroline makes a weird noise as she awkwardly holds the baby. "I don't know what to do..." She's not kidding. There has never been a time when she had to hold a baby – ever. They were so small and fragile, she was afraid she'd end up doing the wrong thing. Eventually they sit on the rocking chair and Liam quiets down when Caroline reads him his favourite book. Lexi grins and is relieved he feels comfortable with Caroline. He seems very taken with his Aunt, but that only lasts for a couple of minutes before he eventually he calls for his mommy so she hands him over. As Caroline sits in the rocking chair and observes Lexi with baby Liam, she can't help but think how lucky her brother is to have found himself the perfect little family. She wondered if having a family of her own were in her cards – given her incredibly bad luck with men and relationships she highly doubted it was.

* * *

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Caroline breathes out making Klaus chuckle. He turns off the ignition and pockets the key. "No turning back now love."

Caroline glares at him before her eyes landed on the Mikaelson Manor. It still looked very much the same since the last time she remembered. The stoned white exterior built up alongside its majestic frontal pillars. As a child she'd always thought it looked like a mini version of the white house. The very same Manor she had spent most of her childhood in, making memories, having sleepovers. "It stills looks the same." Caroline exhaled and smiled fondly.

"Yeah." Klaus smiles sadly. He cannot picture his family home without his father. The thought alone was enough to sour his mood. Caroline seemed to catch on and so she lowered her hand over his. "Let's go inside."

As quiet and peaceful as the house looked from the outside, that was definitely not the case inside… There were a couple of guys scattered around moving tables and chairs, a string of women aligning the stairway railings with an assortment of flowers and fairy lights and Esther Mikaelson at the centre of it all barking orders to everyone in tow. "You're here!" She exclaims once her eyes landed on them interlocked fingers and all. "Hello Mother." Klaus kisses her cheeks

"Niklaus, be a dear and help your brothers set up the marquee at the back would you,"

"Yes. I'll come find you later." He winks at Caroline and she almost wants to yell at him for leaving her alone to deal with Rebekah – who she had yet to see.

"She's in the garden dear." Esther smiles reassuringly, answering her thoughts instantly. "Good luck."

See? Even Esther thought she needed luck in dealing with Rebekah. She was so going to make Klaus sleep on the floor tonight. Placing her purse on one of the many hallway tables, she made her way to the back and out into the garden. She can't lie – she's nervous as fuck. Caroline was literally preparing herself for the worst. As she proceeds through the colossal backyard garden she can't help but be taken back to the younger years when herself and Rebekah had tea parties out here. On some days they'd be princesseshigh up on the tall tree house which also served as their magical far away kingdom, and sometimes they'd even be robbers and thieves trying to steal the precious treasure from the gnarly pirates.

To her surprise she found Rebekah on one of the benches tucked underneath the large oak tree. She had seemed to acknowledge Caroline's presence but had not even said a single thing. That was a definite indication that she had been mad at her, but she decided to sit down anyway.

There was a tense moment of silence, during which both blondes stared off into the surroundings of the colossal garden. Her back was tense – the way it use to coil when she was about to throw one of her temper tantrums – but her fists were clenched on her sides – the way that they use to clench when someone would bully Caroline and Rebekah would come to her rescue. Despite the years passing without seeing her, Caroline knew Rebekah well enough to know that the combination was dangerous.

"I'm certainly glad to see you stranger..." Caroline starts off, unsure of what else to say.

"Really? I can't imagine why." She bit back

"Are we really going to fight about this right now? I missed you. Please let's just catch up first and then –"

Rebekah's head slummped down in misery. Why hadn't she told her? Since Niklaus had alledgedly popped the question, herself and Caroline have spoken. Numerous times! There had been ample time for her to look at Rebekah and say _**'Oh by the way I'm getting married to you brother. No big deal.'**_

Plenty of chances!

She thought they were better than this.

"Why didn't you tell me Caroline? I know we haven't seen each other in months but I thought we were friends!"

"Rebekah calm down okay. The truth is…" The truth was something Rebekah was definitely not going to like. "The truth is that it happened so suddenly and well given the fact that you were currently in Milan, Elijah in California and Kol – god knows where, we just wanted to tell everyone together you know." With every word she spoke she hated herself even more. She had begged Klaus to tell them about Mikael and he said that it'd be best if they waited after Liz's wedding so in the mean time what else was she to do? She could not simply avoid Rebekah for as long as she stayed here.

"A simple text, call or email would have sufficed Caroline. I even Skyped you that one time and you never said anything."

"Klaus told me not to-" The words were out of her mouth before she could even think about it. Technically Klaus did tell her that. "Does it bother you that we're together?"

"Are you bloody joking?"

Caroline physically shrunk. Okay maybe the idea of her and Klaus wanted to make her barf as well but the fact that her own friend didn't think she was good enough for her brother was kind of harsh. "There is no one else I would like more for my brother than you Caroline."

"Wait what..?"

"What?" Rebekah stares at her incredulously "Don't look so surprised. Yes I'm still mad at the both of you for keeping this from me but, I am so relieved that he finally screwed his head on right and opened his eyes to see the brainless bimbos he was fooling around with."

And just like that, all those earlier tense and fist clenching moments had vanished without a trace. But that was Rebekah Mikaelson for you. She was a force to be reckoned with. A tornado of emotions destroying everything in her path..in a good kinda way. Sometimes.

"You know most of them were friends of yours." Caroline snorted

"Exactly!" And they both broke out into a fit of giggles. From her place at the glass double doors, Esther stared out at her two favorite girls and smiled at the sight of them laughing. She knew Rebekah would welcome Caroline into the family with open arms. She had been a part of this family even before Klaus proposed.

"So I am going to be your maid of honour right? I know Lexi is an option but she still has her baby weight to shed and think about the pictures Caroline…"

"Rebekah!" Caroline chuckled and realized how much she actually missed her friend along with her snarky sense of humour.

"So how did he pop the question? I want to know everything!"

Caroline wet her lips and took a moment to carefully think about what she and Klaus had rehearsed last night especially when this exact question would be asked. "It was sudden you know..." She spoke in a soft tone that made Rebekah lift her gaze to her. Caroline's expression was off to the view of the rest of the garden granted once again her expression was one lost in memory. "It was nothing more than a normal day. Then out of no where, his down on one knee... It didn't seem real."

Rebekah squealed in absolute delight and Caroline took it as a job well done on the cover up. Providing a little information but not too much on the details just in case they'd get confused further on. Biting her lip, Caroline wondered idly if she had to add _**certified liar**_ to her cv.

Rebekah pulled Caroline into a bear crushing hug nearly knocking the breath out of her. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me sooner!"

"I still can't believe you're not over it already."

* * *

"There he is! The man of the moment…"

Klaus winced as his younger brother's exclamation came flying through the air. "Kol." He turned around and acknowledged him. "You sneaky little bastard." Kol grinned and hugged his brother while Elijah followed in tow.

"Congratulations Niklaus." Elijah offered

"I'm not buying it though… Little Caroline Salvatore? Stefan is going to murder you." Kol chuckled

"So that is why you are so hyped up about the news, I take it?" Klaus sighed and Kol nodded "Well in that case, I hate to be the bearer of bad news little brother but Stefan already knows. We have his blessing if you must know."

Kol's smile almost instantly dropped at that "What? Why?"

Elijah rolled his eyes. "Why must everything have an ulterior motive with you Kol, can't you just be happy for Niklaus?"

"Oh so it's bloody okay when he marries her but when I wanted to date her I got nothing but hate from Stefan and all of you for weeks. You're all full of shit." He stormed off back into the house.

* * *

 **AN:** So that was chapter five. Scene inspired from _He's just not that into you._


	6. Chapter 6 - The Wedding

**Chapter Six:** The Wedding

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own any rights to the characters and references to scenes used and inspired by will be mentioned as I do not take any credit for them whatsoever._

* * *

Caroline lays in bed for a few minutes until her brows furrow. There seemed to be a weight next to her, a warmth flowing from the bare skin she felt almost touching hers. She turned around slowly to find Klaus laying beside her - without a shirt on. His face looked completely at ease as he slept next to her and Caroline couldn't help but smile.

The closeness of their promixity wasn't loss on Caroline who inhaled Klaus' delicious scent. For someone who had annoyed her most of her life, there was one thing she wouldn't deny; Klaus was hot as fuck. From his chiseled features to his rock hard abs, right down to that inviting V-line leading to his... Oh - she was relieved he'd been asleep and not concious to witness her blatantly oggling and smelling him like an absolute weirdo.

She found herself staring at his tattoos next,

Caroline knew the story behind the triangle on his back because Stefan had one just like it, only on his left shoulderblade. She remembered it being something about it representing Klaus, Elijah and Stefan's relationship.

Totally gay

Rebekah had mentioned at one point the story behind the panther on his right arm, but she had yet to find out what the feather bursting into a flock of birds meant. She wondered idly behind it's meaning and significance as she slowly outlined the intricate pattern on the chiseled skin.

One lap of outlining had been completed and she was on to the next one when suddenly, Klaus caught her wrist in an iron-like hold.

"Molesting me in my sleep now are we love?"

Caroline could feel the heat radiating off her face at the embarrasment she felt at being caught. "I - I was just-"

"Shamefully padding me down while I was unconcious? Shame on you." He continued to tease her all the while inching closer to her face.

"I was not!"

"That's not what it looked like sweetheart..."

"You know what - whatever!" Caroline scoffed and threw the blanket off as she flung her legs out the bed. She squealed in surprise when Klaus' arms wrapped around her waist pulling her onto her back and started to tickle her

"Klausss- please! Stop!" Caroline rasped out between giggles. Her t-shirt had been shoved all the way up to her midriff in her attempts to escape his tickling fingers

"Admit it. You were oggling me love."

"I was not!" She laughed, the tears already falling from her eyes with all the laughter caused by his ministrations on her ribs

Caroline leaned up and bit his ear lobe trying to get him to stop which in fact had only made him grown when he locked her hands in his, holding them above her head. Struggling to catch her breath, Caroline couldn't help but stare at him hovering over her.

Her eyes suddenly widened at the postition she had just come to realize they were in. Klaus' legs on either side of hers while he held their hands above her head. His face mere inches away from hers in such close promixity, that she could feel his short laboured breaths against her face.

She could feel his lengthening hardness press into her and she gasped in suprise when suddenly his mouth was over hers in a searing lip lock.

 _"Hmm Klaus..."_

 _"Yes. More."_

 _"Oh Klaus."_

Caroline gasped, awake as she fell off the side of the bed and onto the floor.

What the fuck just happened?

"Holy fuck." It had been a dream

A shrilling ringtone of the wedding march broke out from her phone on the nightstand and she couldn't help but groan, eyeing the offending device. Damn Katherine for changing her ringtone which she had yet to change back. And damn that weird dream she just had.

She blamed it on spending way too much time around Klaus and her deprivation of sex in the last few weeks. The combination was deadly and starting to mess with her head.

"Hello?" she groans as she flungs herself off the floor and sits on the bed

"Hey pumpkin. I just wanted to call and make sure you didn't sleep through the wedding."

It was Klaus.

Caroline tries to normalise her breathing and tone as if not to alert him - more herself than anyone else really - that she had, just a mere few minutes ago, been having an almost sex dream about Klaus of all people.

She coughed audibly before clearing her throat "I guess I kind of passed out last night. Where are you anyway?" She glances around the apartment, although rather thankful he had not been present. Her dream would have made for a rather awkward start to her day, had he been here.

"I'm getting ready over at my folks." He answers

Caroline walks over to the open plan kitchen in search of some food. "Oh – so we're not going together?"

"No my mother wanted me to come over early and help with some stuff. Plus. You don't have to be here until like three for the pictures." Klaus says

"Uh -hmm. Y-yeah." Caroline says between chews of leftover fries from lastnight's take out.

"What was that?" He couldn't make out a word

"Hmm." She swallows. "Hang on a sec" Caroline opens a carton of milk for a quick sip and then nearly spits it out all over the kitchen floor. "Oh God! How old is this milk?!"

"Oh shit. No. Don't drink anything in the fridge." Klaus chuckled "It's like a million years old. I'll see you later sweetheart."

* * *

The day had finally arrived. Liz had practised her part in the ceremony only about twenty times. She made sure to go over her vows, her use of tone throughout the exchange and of course - her poses for the photographer. She knew her part inside and out and yet, she was still nervous.

Liz had been nervous from the moment she had allowed Bill to take a step into her life as someone more than her late husband's close friend. She had been nervous when she had to introduce their relationship under a new light to her children whom she didn't think would be as welcoming of the idea. Just thinking about spending the rest of her days alongside someone who made her so happy had made her nervous.

"Bill, my zipper is stuck – could you give me a hand?" Liz asks at her place infront of the large vanity in her bedroom.

Bill walks over, half-dressed in his tux and smiles warmly at his bride. He turns to the unzipped dress. "Be still – I got it."

Liz giggled "You're tickling me."

"Well I'm sorry but when it comes to dresses I have more experience in unzipping them." He says teasing her

"Oh – why do you think I'm marrying you huh?" She smirks and Bill laughs

"You know – we're way ahead in schedule here, we can work in a little quickie." Bill kisses her shoulder and Liz throws her head back in laughter

"Oh no" Liz chuckles darkly "Come on no…" she laughs as Bill begins to tickle her making her squirm from side to side. "It's our wedding day! Behave." She swats him playfully on the arm.

"I guess you're right. We should save it for the honeymoon." He says and zips the dress right to the top.

Liz sighs as she looks into the mirror. "I guess there aren't many advantages at getting married at this age huh." She makes her anxiety none for the first time since he had proposed.

Bill regards her carefully and places his hands on her waist in a comforting gesture. "Well I can think of one."

"What?"

"No one is going to think this is a shotgun wedding." Bill says and they both laugh

"That's true." Liz smiles at him. He always had a knack for making all her worries dissipate into thin air. God she loved this man.

" _ **Mom!"**_

"Is that Caroline?" Liz frowns hearing the thudding of the stairs as someone climbs them in a hurry.

"Mom?!"

Caroline barely manages to tread into her mother's bedroom without falling over.

"Honey – you look terrible what's wrong?" Liz frowns as she takes in her daughter's appearance. She looks gleamy and deathly pale.

"Oh – I drank some sour milk and ate too many of those Rogolo-" She felt the bile rise in her throat and flung herself into her mother's en-suite bathroom, slamming the door so hard before falling to her knees infront of the toilet as her stomach pumped out it's contents.

From behind the bathroom door stood a worried Liz and Bill. She could hear Caroline throwing up and groaning in between."You ate those things too didn't you?" Liz turns to Bill in question

"Yeah a bucket load. I feel fine." He shrugged

Liz turned back to the closed door of the bathroom for a second before turning back to Bill. "You don't think…" she trails off and places her opened palmed hands on her belly

"Morning sickness?!"

"Shh!" Liz hushes him - afraid Caroline might hear them.

Liz sighed and turned back to the door letting the idea that she might become grandmother once again fester.

* * *

It really had been a while since he had been in here.

Klaus smiled fondly taking in the appearance of his childhood bedroom feeling the light flutters of nostalgia. It was as if he had taken a trip down memory lane, witnessing how the phases of his life had influenced the phases of his bedroom.

He remembered a bunk bed. Empty pizza boxes strewn about comic books and marvel hero action figures cluttered about everywhere - some of which he still kept.

Bordering his teens, Klaus' bunk bed had been replaced by a much larger double bed and the clutter on the floor had been non-existant. His desk to the far left corner had his computer monitor and keyboard on it, some art supplies scattered about. Several guitars, an electric as well as the acoustic one he remembered begging Mikael to buy him, thinking it would tenfold his sex appeal to then - teenage girls. What a wasted investment it had been that he had only ever learned to play one tune on that thing.

Klaus chuckled at the memory when he turned to the walls of where there were many posters of scantily clad girls. All blondes, he noted dryly.

He found a bunch of his old CD's and pops one in while he starts to get suited up for the wedding. The music is blaring out his sound system and Klaus pops in a few MJ moves between dressing.

A knock sounds on the door before Mikael peaks his head inside. "Everyone decent?"

"Father – er yeah come on in." Klaus turns the music off. "Caroline went to get ready at her folks place."

Mikael nods. "Good – I wanted to talk to you alone anyway."

"Yeah? – what's up."

"About what happened at the airport.." Mikael starts off but Klaus sighs quickly interjecting before his father could go any further

"Oh no – no don't worry about that –"

"You asked us to keep it quiet and we should have respected your wishes. But you're mother and I – well we haven't been getting a lot of good news lately. So when we heard about you and Caroline, we just got a little excited."

"It's okay. It worked out." Klaus smiled

"Nevertheless. I think I have something that will make it up to you." Mikael's eyes glimmered with a hint of mischief and excitement as Klaus regarded him closely

"Father – No. You don't need to give me anyting."

"Well technically son, it's not from me… It's from your grandmother." He opened his hand and in it lay an engagement ring. A very beautiful one at that.

"It's beautiful." Klaus' eyes softened "But I can't give this to Caroline."

"Why not? You don't think she'll like the setting?"

"No – the setting?" Klaus regarded his father. He looked really sincere like there was nothing that would make him more happy than to see Caroline in his grandmother's ring.

"I think she'll love the setting."

XxX

Liz held Caroline's hair back while she continued to puke. "I'm sorry Mom. Ah – you shouldn't have to be doing this on your wedding day."

Liz's eyes softened "It's okay sweetie. When you're a mother there are no days off. You'll see soon enough."

Caroline stiffens suddenly and turns to look at Liz with a frown.

"What is that suppose to mean?"

 **XxX**

"It's ridiculous. She's not pregnant, please." Mel says as she wings her eyeliner to perfection and starts on the other eye.

"Well then explain the fact that no one even knew they were dating." Sharon questions throwing back another glass of champagne.

Mel and Sharon Salvatore who were cousins of Caroline and Stefan, alongside Lexi had all been selected to be Liz's bridemaids and were getting ready in a designated guest room at the Mikaelson house.

"God – Sharon you throw up all the time – and you're not pregnant." Lexi retorts rolling her eyes

Mel and Lexi laugh. "I told you I'm lactose intolerant." Sharon scoffs.

"More like size eight intolerant." Lily, Mel's younger sister and also, a part of the wedding party comments as she comes into the room.

"Ooh girl." Lexi high fives Lily.

"Okay – all I'm saying is that if Klaus really loved her then how come we haven't heard a word about how he proposed?"

 **XxX**

It was an unseasonably warm day. The sun was shining and the sky was a cloudless blue. Caroline Salvatore couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for her mother's wedding. She was marrying William Forbes. Holy crap. She took a deep breath as she looked at how beautifully decorated the back garden had been set up. Already dressed in the rather distasteful bridesmaid dress, she figured wasn't too bad since she had total control over the type of shoes she wore and how she wanted her make-up. Her hair was of course, curled to perfection, held together loosely yet elegantly in a delicate bun with a few loose strands framing her face. She decided against the horrid piece of ribbon Liz wanted them all to wear around their heads and opted for a classy headband instead. Her makeup wasn't too over the top; with a nude lip and light blush. Caroline did however decide on khol eyeliner and extra volumed water-proof mascara making her baby blues pop.

Waterproof because she was sure there was no way she was going to get through this day without shedding a few tears. Joy for the most part, her mother was finally marrying someone she actually liked. And sorrow for her dead and dormant love life while the biological time clock on her ovaries ticked on.

Today she was practically a walking contradiction. She looked beautiful, sure. But the sour look on her face really resonated a different outlook entirely– and the expired milk she had for breakfast had not been the cause.

"How is my favourite fiance doing?"

Caroline turns around to see Klaus standing before her looking drop dead gorgeous in a tux. She instantly decides that she is far too annoyed and angry to even dwell on how good he looked so she scoffed as some form of a response as to how she was feeling. There weren't words. Just sounds it seemed.

Klaus takes in her expression with a frowned face."Oh boy – what happened?" He asks

"Oh nothing – unless you count the fact that my mother thinks I'm pregnant with your baby." Caroline gritted out

"What?" Klaus chuckles

"She thinks the only reason someone like **you** would marry someone like **me** was if you got me pregnant." Caroline scoffs "Shit like that made me move two thousand miles away in the first place."

"So did you tell her the truth?"

Caroline stared at him incredulously. "No I lied – I told her you're not really as shallow as you look and that we decided to get married because – of _our deep and soulful connection._ " She retorted, openly rolling her eyes.

"Oh."

"Uh huh."

"Well – maybe this will get her off your back." Klaus says and takes out something from his pocket

"What is that…" Caroline looks to the protruding object he held in between his fingers.

"It's my grandmother's engagement ring–"

"No." Caroline replies instantly

"Take it."

"No. Forget it, no."

"What?" Klaus stares at her in confusion. "Just try it on."

"No. Klaus – I'm not wearing your dead grandmother's engagement ring."

"Caroline – love."

"You are out of your mind." She retorts

"Caroline! If we're trying to convince your mother and everybody else that we're engaged, an engagement ring is a good place to start."

"Fine! But that did not come from Wal-Mart." She exclaims and then turns to look around to see if anyone had been listening. "I do not think your grandmother would appreciate me wearing her stunning VVS 1, 1.75 carrot, princess cut engagement ring."

"Wow." Klaus is stunned to silence.

He shook his head. "Caroline would you quit worrying about disrespecting my grandmother, her whole life was about making her son happy. And nothing would make her son more happy than seeing you wear this ring for a few days."

"Fine." Caroline rolls her eyes. "It's probably not going to fit anyway." She says extending her hand to him. Klaus regards it for a moment then looks up at her expectant stare. "What?"

"I'm not putting it on myself – put it on me."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

She was really stubborn sometimes. "Alright." Klaus sighs incredulous and goes for her hand only to have the ring slip out of his and onto the floor. "Shit…" he got onto the floor for the ring

Klaus remains on his knee after picking the ring up and places it on her finger. Caroline smiles very briefly before bringing her hand up to inspect the ring further. "It fits."

"I guess it's official." Klaus says as he gets up.

Caroline looks at the ring and it is so beautiful. She cannot help but feel the tears welling up. Oh God – here goes the waterworks again.

"What's wrong? Is it the setting?"

"I love the setting." Caroline whines, her voice nearly cracking.

"Then what's wrong?"

"I don't know… I mean not too long ago I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me with his _wife_." Caroline chuckles at how absurd that sounds. Klaus smirks too. "I mean – it's just that… I waited my whole life for a guy to love me so much he'd propose to me with his grandmother's engagement ring." Caroline sighed "It's just not really what I had in mind you know." She seems okay, but her voice is a little shaky.

"Come here." Klaus opens his arms and she shakes her head. "Come here – give it up."

Caroline pouts and walks into his embrace. "Bear hug." Klaus says and wraps his arms around her fiercely. As Caroline wraps hers around his waist. He rubs soothing circles onto her back and for a while they just stand there. The faint sounds of an orchestra in the background.

As she breathes in his delicious scent, Caroline couldn't help but be taken back to the vivid dream she had that very morning. The way he looked at her, held her and nearly kissed her?

"Alright." Caroline clears her throat and is the first one to break away. "I'm going to –"

"Right." Klaus says

"I should be in there.." Caroline walks backwards "I'm the maid of honor.."

"Right yeah." Klaus says and he shifts uncomfortably "I'm going to go this way.." He points in another direction and she nods.

They both walk their separate ways.

Klaus couldn't wrap his head around the encounter between himself and Caroline just now as he walks towards the other side of the garden where most of the guests are gathered.

"Niklaus Mikaelson.." he hears someone call and turns to look

There he sees a very tall, very pretty, young blonde woman "Regina Renolds?"

* * *

"I mean she doesn't even have a ring." Sharon exclaims.

"Agh you're just trying to create drama where there is no drama." Lily says and walks over the the window before she flungs her body against the large window. "Holy shit!"

She squealed in delight and bangs her hands on the glass. Sharon, Mel and Lexi regard eachother in shock before looking at Lily who they think has obviously lost her mind. "Are you okay?"

"Klaus is giving her the ring right now!" She says and they all rush over to the window where they see Klaus in the back garden under the large oak tree – on one knee infront of Caroline putting the ring onto her finger.

"Awwwww and he did it on one knee." Mel gushes

"On her mother's wedding day." Lily gushes

"That's so romantic." Sharon coos and they all turn to her and frown.

XxX

"Regina Reonolds?"

"How are you doing? My god. You look fantastic." He grinned taking in her appearance. She had a fitted black dress that finished off with embezzlement arrangement. Her long heels accentuated her tall silky legs that seemed to go on for miles and her blonde hair was straigthened reaching down to her inviting rack.

He eyed her from head to toe which did not go unoticed by her of course. "How can you wear a dress like that to a wedding? You're going to steal the bride's thunder."

"Klaus Mikaelson, always the flirt." She smirked

"Oh no – not always. Just with you." He retorts and Regina grins sheepishly.

"Champagne anyone?" A waiter interrupts their heated gaze "Oh yes please." Regina eagerly takes a flute and starts to sip

"No thanks I'm good."

"You're not drinking? I thought weddings always made you nervous." Regina chuckles and Klaus nods

"Oh they do. They terrify me actually." They both laugh "It's just a little early for me to start hitting the champagne."

"Where's Mitch?" Klaus asks after a few minutes

"Oh – I guess you didn't hear. We broke up a few months ago."

"Really..." This was certainly news. He remembered bumping into her at a mutual friend's cocktail in New York. She was of course on the arm of Mitch Andrews.

"I mean, Mitch is a great guy, but I just felt like there was no need to get married and put a label on it you know." Regina smiles and tucks a strand behind her ear.

"Absolutely."

"So now I'm just having a good time, keeping my options open, crashing the occasional family wedding." She zeros her blue eyes in onto him as she treads closer. "What about you... Are you seeing anyone special?"

"You know–"

"Ah there he is!" Caroline's crazy uncle Zach booms as he runs over to them and literally lifts Klaus up. "Congrats my man! I just heard the news..."

"What?" Regina smiles looking at Klaus' discomfort as Caroline's uncle eventually put him down. "Did you get a promotion?"

"Well no, not exacty–"

"This guy just got engaged to my niece. How about that!" Uncle Zach exclaims, rather ecstatic

Regina couldn't help the look of utter astoundment that took over her face "Y-youre engaged?"

"Its er–"

"To Caroline Salvatore?"

The guests started to walk into the house as the ceremony would soon begin. "That's your cue Klaus. You are a groomsman after all." The uncle pulled a reluctant Klaus toward the house and away from a baffled and confused Regina.

* * *

"Have you guys seen my Mom anywhere?" Caroline asks coming into the room and it soon turns to a shrieking mess. Mel, Lily and Sharon running up to her to envelop her in hugs and yanking her hand up to inspect her ring while Lexi stood from afar not really sure what to do but smirk.

"Oh my god!"

"Congratulations."

"You're so lucky! Its so beautiful!."

Caroline shoots Lexi a glare that she hasn't stepped in to stop them from harrasing her and she decides that her sister-in-law who knows the real truth is rather enjoying this specticle.

"I have to go find my Mom.." Caroline runs out of the room. Literally. She runs to the closest room and shuts the door behind her trying to catch her breath.

"Caroline?"

Caroline looked up to see Kol sitting on a bed. Shit – she must've ran into his room then. "Hey."

"Running away from your fiance already?" He smirked and she rolled her eyes at his comment, coming to sit next to him. "Shouldn't you be out there moving chairs and hitting on my cousins?"

"They're a bit too clingy for my tastes, darling. Besides, you know I've only ever had eyes for one girl." He winked at her and she giggled shoving his arm playfully.

"Caroline! There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere, come on. The ceremony is about to start." Rebekah practically yanks her away from Kol and out of the room before she can say anything.

Liz's wedding came faster than anyone expected. It was hard to believe that the time had finally arrived for her mom to wed lucky number five. One minute they were planning the wedding, and the next, the Mikaelson manor was buzzing with activity. Caterers were bustling around the kitchen, the videographer was setting up his camera at the right angle, the florists had brought the topiary trees, and there were garlands on the stairs and over the front door. A photographer was following very human in the house like a heat-seeking missile, then photographing the décor, the preparations, and the guests as they arrived. The musicians were playing.

Caroline hears the music begin to play signalling the bridesmaids to start their walk to the altar. Her cousins had all proceeded down the aisle, one by one as the guests smiled happily on the sides. It was Lexi and Stefan who walked next. Caroline watched them lovingly still looking as in love as they had on their big day a few years back. It seemed that her brother and even all her cousins were happily together with their significant others while she was still very single and pretending to be engaged to a guy she grew up with. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or offended that many of most had come to the conclusion that she had been pregnant and that was the only reason why Klaus would be marrying her. Receiving all this sudden attention and being fawned over by her family was so overwhleming. And knowing that it was all a hoax just made it all the more morbid for her.

The neared the pillar of flowers, Caroline hooking Klaus in by the arm. He noticed her frowning, seeming deep in thought.

"I can't do this..." Caroline whimpered

"What? Why not - we're next." He frowned motioning to the aisle

"No — I mean our supposed engagement."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I'm freaking out okay!" And a few guests turned around having overheard her little out burst.

"Okay — easy tiger." Klaus mouthed over to her and smiled at the guests who turned back to the altar

"Mel and Lily are fighting about where we should honeymoon, I don't exactly enjoy lying to my family and friends and no matter what I say everything still thinks that I'm pregnant!"

"Okay." Klaus sees that the coordinator motions for them to go next and so he laces his fingers through hers. "Just try to relax, love."

All the guests turn to see them enter with knowing smiles on their faces. "Oh god..." Caroline feels like she is about to faint

"You can lean on me.."

Caroline looks up to him and couldn't help but smile softly. He nods at her and they begin to walk down the aisle. She tries to avoid the lot's stares and chesire grins but as they get to the front rows it becomes harder to miss Esther and Mikael. The warm and loving smiles on the faces nearly breaks her heart.

Klaus notices his parents and siblings all staring at them with smiles, well except for Kol. But he doesn't dwell on it too long before he finds Mikael's face. His eyes shown with pride as they fall on Caroline's dainty little hand with the engagement ring shining proudly on her finger. As they reach the altar, Klaus pauses briefly to nod at his parents before himself and Caroline part to stand at their respective places at the altar.

And suddenly, they were waiting for Liz to come down the stairs. She gracefully descended the stairs to Handel's _Water Music_ , with tears running down her cheeks as she looks to Bill. She took everyone's breath away, she looked beautiful. Caroline looked proud. Bill looked at the woman he was marrying, he cried openly, standing next to Stefan who he regarded as his son since he never had any children of his own. Everyone was moved, as she walked to him and took his arm.

Father Kieran who performed the ceremony spoke wisely about the challenges of marriage, and the blessings it provided when it was right, the wisdom of it between two good people who had chosen well, and Caroline couldn't help but feel the miss even amongst all the pretending. The food was delicious. The wine was fabulous. The house looked spectacular. It was the perfect day, the perfect time and before anyone could blink, Liz was standing at the top of the stairs again in her beautiful white satin dress, and her bouquet of white orchids came hurtling down and hit Caroline in the chest. Everyone grinned at her seemingly pleased and she almost openly rolled her eyes at the irony. Bill tossed the garter at Elijah and Caroline was slightly relieved it had not been Klaus.

That would have been too much.

As everyone made their way over to the reception held out in the backyard garden, alcohol flowed freely and everyone began to loosen up a bit more.

The tent outside on the terrace had been decked to a tee. The lanterns on ceiling had elicited a luminous glow around the entire room as the guests danced and drank until they could no more. Klaus had gotten into the alcohol rather feverishly and himself and Rebekah had been dominating the dance floor for the past hour.

Caroline sat at a table with two of Klaus' aunts. Since it was already evening, she had Klaus' suit jacket over her shoulders to keep out the slight chill. Her feet were killing her so she found comfort at a corner table, resting them and sipping some delicious red wine.

Klaus' aunts were in the midst of discussing trips to the dentist's office. For whatever reason, Caroline had no idea and wasn't all that bothered by it either. As long as they shut up about the impending wedding and birthing Klaus' jewish kids she wasn't going to complain.

Caroline rolled her eyes at Aunt Edna's comment about flossing atleast twice a day when Klaus' Aunt Dahlia draped a hand on her forearm. "Should you really be drinking dear?" She edged closer to whisper the next bit "You know... In your condition?"

Caroline nearly spit out the wine all over the table but managed to cough it down with a struggled swallow. "Okay. You know what-"

"Excuse me ladies... Do you mind if I steal my fiance for a few moments?"

Klaus' timing was impeccable as always. Had he arrived a minute later, she was sure Aunt Dahlia would have been stunned to silence by the colorful vocabulary of words she had been itching to scream from the moment she'd arrived.

"Of course." They smiled tight lipped and Caroline got up to follow Klaus.

Once they reached the dance floor. Caroline let out a breath of relief "Oh my god. Thank you."

"How you holding up?" Klaus asked, handing her a glass of champagne.

"Under the circumstances... Okay I guess. You?"

"Yeah no - I'm good." He smiled

"More champange?" A waiter asked bringing them two flutes and they eagerly nodded. "Yes please." They downed the drinks and took the remaining two flutes from the tray.

"Cheers, sweetheart." He interlocked their arms and Caroline couldn't help but laugh but she drank anyway. Despite the ungodly overwhelming feelings everyone had been dumping on her today, she was kind of glad that Klaus was there to help her through it. She didn't think there was anyone else she'd rather have by her side.

* * *

 **AN:** Originally, I wanted to use either Cami or Hayley for 'Regina' but my reviewers were against it and I'm all for pleasing you guys, first and foremost. Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. x


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